US NGO Dogwood Alliance have released a video of their recent Tour of hotspots of the wood pellet industry in the southern US. They travelled 2,200 miles through 8 states, held 10 community events in 6 different cities and, with the help of 37 diverse partner...
Blazing a trail of deception: the White Rose Project and “negative emissions” technologies by Oliver Munnion, published on OpenDemocracy In the UK, a new coal fired power station is being developed by Drax that, if built, would be the first new coal fired power...
Biofuelwatch has just published a new report on biomass gasification and pyrolysis (so-called "advanced conversion technologies") in the UK. In addition, a series of questions to the Green Investment Bank has also been published, highlighting serious concerns about...
"Jurassic World" and the Dinosaurs at the USDA, Rachel Smolker, Truthout
A Biomass Gasifier at Fiddlers Reach, Grays, West Thurrock: A high-risk experimental technology for burning chemically treated waste wood (updated 26th May 2015 with reference to the planing documents)
Submission of information on Synthetic Biology to the Convention on Biological Diversity, prepared on behalf of Biofuelwatch by Rachel Smolker
Contents 1.Resources on (wood) biomass for heat and power 2.Scientific studies and reports focussing on (wood) biomass for heat and power 3. Scientific articles and reports on potential impacts of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) 4. NGO...
A brand new edition of Forest Cover, the Global Forest Coalition newsletter, is now available to download. It has been co-produced with Biofuelwatch, and focuses on the impacts of wood-based bioenergy on forests and forest peoples. Download the print version to read...
UPDATE: In September 2015, Drax announced that they were pulling out of this project which therefore now seems unlikely to go ahead. The White Rose “CCS” project: Why its "carbon capture" plans are doubtful and why public subsidies should not be spent on Drax’s new...
A Global Overview of Wood-based Bioenergy: Production, Consumption, Trends and Impacts, Global Forest Coalition
Update:The company, Almond Bank Power Ltd, folded later in 2014 and the proposed plant has not been built. Almondbank Power’s proposed biomass power plant in Perth: A high-risk experimental technology for burning trees
Huffington Post article by Rachel Smolker I spent the past several days participating in the Indigenous Environmental Network Campaign to Stop GE Trees Action Camp in the Qualla Boundary, homelands of the Eastern Band Cherokee in North Carolina. Participants included...
Biofuelwatch briefing summarising the evidence about increased power plant emissions during startup and shutdown periods
Burning Wood in Power Stations: Public Health Impacts , Biofuelwatch briefing
Fires and explosions at biomass power infrastructure are common occurrences. The two documents linked below were put together by PT-RAPS, Port Talbot Residents Against Power Stations, and list 76 reported pellet fires and wood dust explosions over a four year period,...
Is toxic algae good for you?, Article by Rachel Smolker about synthetic biology and algal biofuels, published by Huffington Post
A new look at land-grabs in the global south linked to EU biomass policies, report by Almuth Ernsting, Biofuelwatch NGOs, policy makers and industry analysists have predicted that Europe's fast-growing demand for wood pellets and woodchips for bioenergy will...
A new website has been created to allow concerned residents to record experiences of living next door to the UK's biggest biomass power station. In Markinch and Glenrothes in Scotland, the biggest biomass power station in the UK has recently reached completion. It is...