Energy from Forest Biomass is Carbon-Neutral

NAFO points to consensus within the international community and the Federal government that climate goals are unreachable without working forests

From the October 2009 Forest2Fuel newsletter.

The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) voiced support for the established science on the carbon-neutrality of domestic, renewable forest biomass, and offered to work collaboratively with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and other stakeholders on realizing the carbon mitigation potential of working forests in climate change policy.

David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, said, “NAFO agrees with the position of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that, ‘In the long term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fiber or energy from the forest, will generate the greatest mitigation benefit.’ NAFO also shares the view of the EPA that there is, ‘scientific consensus’ that carbon dioxide emitted from burning biomass will not increase CO2 in the air if done on a sustainable basis,’ a position also supported by the IPCC.”

Tenny continued, “We look forward to working with EDF and others to examine how the hypothesis provided in the Serchinger, et. al. article compares with the established scientific consensus. We agree with a host of international experts that the full suite of carbon benefits provided by working forests, including the displacement of fossil fuels by forest biomass and the reabsorbtion of emitted carbon through forest regrowth, can significantly reduce greenhouse gasses."

NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to promoting federal policies that protect the economic and environmental values of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 75 million acres of private forestland in 47 states.

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