Biomass on the move [image credit: Drax]
The whole ‘net zero’ thing is a scandal in many ways, but at least some MPs are noticing one of the issues, even if partly for the wrong reason. Burning trees isn’t a solution to anything apart from papering over a few of the cracks in electricity supply caused by intermittent renewables.
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Burning wood to create power is a ‘scandal’, 50 MPs warn the energy minister in a letter today.
The letter – which has cross-party support – marks a major shift in political opinion over the burning of biomass, which is currently classed by the Government as a green form of energy, says the Daily Mail.
The letter says the extra emissions produced by biomass ‘are the equivalent of three million Ford Fiestas on our roads’.
Organised by Peter Bottomley, Father of the House of Commons, the letter calls for a meeting with Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to discuss ending subsidies to the Drax power plant in Yorkshire.
The plant supplies about 12 per cent of the UK’s renewable electricity, and is Europe’s biggest wood-burning power station.
The letter states: ‘The sacrifices constituents are being asked to make to reach net zero are huge.
‘Neither they nor we can understand why it was decided to give Drax £4 billion of subsidies from electricity bills to create even more carbon dioxide. This scandal demands an immediate response.’
Signatories include the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas and the SNP’s Ian Blackford.
Continued here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
Blimey! Caroline Lucas has signed it?? So what’s changed her mind?
‘Climate crisis’ believers can’t be increasing CO2 emissions by burning biomass instead of coal and gas. The world hasn’t got time to wait for the replacement trees to grow, if they believe their own dogma.
Well, I’ve been saying this since the very beginning: have considerable experience in Wood Chipping. and we KNOW that the fuel burnt in the processing is not very far off the Energy supplied in the wood. AND THEN you have to transport fresh (Containing useless water ) or Dried ( Water released into the atmosphere -and what does that do ? ) wood chips to be burnt … not just down the hill from the mountain forrest … SO you’d ask what that is all about – better to have burnt the oil in a generator and left the wood to grow, or rot ( …. ) whilst trying to hang onto “carbon” – making peat or coal for the future. and then after all that ressearch and development, the entire Project gets taken over by GOv sponsored ( & EU) large companies on massive scales – few local people get any work ( JOBS ) benefit. just saying.
Meanwhile between feeding the Stirks we are returning from the hills where we’ve been saving oil for plastic Xmas Trees by Cutting down Carbon storing trees – but then again, too many trees growing is sucking up the water and lowering the water table …. reservoirs won’t fill so readily, the pine needles leads to acid leaching in the soils ….. and so on,
CO2 is dangerously low and would be much better increased to 1000 ppm.
2400 years ago Plato told us that our lack of questioning what we are instructed to believe leads us into a condition of cultural indoctrination so serious that we become hostile to the critical findings of those who expose it.
The critical finding here has nothing to do with wood or any other fuel, it is that the AGW violates Charles’ Law – which cannot be done without fatal consequences to the transgressing idea.
The AGW requires it to be the case that the GE accounts for the ATE, but if pressure was lower the atmosphere would be bigger and therefore cooler in accordance with Charles’ Law proving that ?gravity enhances atmospheric Temperature due to compression.
Why we don’t just drop this bomb on the whole stupid and despicable political shooting match is beyond me.
We must stop nibbling round the edges at this or that foolish feature and just fire this.
No half-sane Physicist would dare say that Charles’ Law is not being violated unless he is caught in the following paradox.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
― Upton Sinclair, I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked
ilma630 says:
December 17, 2021 at 10:52 am
Nothing has change Lucas’ mind even if she had one to change. She wants drax closed and replaced with her beloved ruinables.
DECEMBER 17, 2021
The world is burning the most coal ever to keep the lights on
https://phys.org/news/2021-12-world-coal.html
I could not believe it when this wood burning farce started up for real a few years back. Consider the CO2 to cut and transport the wood and also any drying done to make it burnable. All the way from America and Canada… GOOD GRIEF! This is even more stupid than the stupid windmills.
As for wind power – not much today…
Any Brits expecting wind power to take over much of their winter heating, car charging, and general electricity supply…better check this…
Looking forward to the snow at Christmas.
https://www.ventusky.com/?p=54.83;-2.82;6&l=snow&t=20211225/1500
Sadly they are basically nutters who want Drax shut for their own own nutty reasons. Friday, without coal and Drax, we would have been in serious trouble as renewables were practically non-existant. Most importantly its not clear that lots more wind capacity would have resulted in any more wind generation.
Phoenix – yes, no escape from the maths for wind advocates: when wind speed = 0, 10*0 = 0 and always will do.
Today’s political leaders ignore this, for reasons they prefer to keep quiet.
–The whole ‘net zero’ thing is a scandal in many ways, but at least some MPs are noticing one of the issues, even if partly for the wrong reason. Burning trees isn’t a solution to anything apart from papering over a few of the cracks in electricity supply caused by intermittent renewables.
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Burning wood to create power is a ‘scandal’, 50 MPs warn the energy minister in a letter today.–
hmm:
scandal:
NOUN
an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage.
Well, it was not legally wrong- unless whatever these monkeys pass into law is illegal.
It was immoral as it was lying, but monkeys are constantly lying. But what is immoral is these jackass don’t know we are in Ice Age.
And fools don’t even what global warming is.
Global warming is when you are in glaciation period, and it warms up a lot.
The Holocene interglacial period warmed up many thousands of years ago, and has been cooling
for over 5000 years.
We have been in an Icehouse global climate for the last 34 million years. Or Earth has not been warm in the last 34 million years, and last 2 million years has been coldest period of the 34 million years. An Icehouse global climate has cold oceans. We have cold oceans.
The average temperature of all the oceans is about 3.5 C. 3.5 C is quite cold. Our ocean for last 5000 years has been around 3.5 C.
What the twits think is global warming is weather. A good reason not to live in the UK, is because it’s too cold. And the people living in the UK, know it’s cold. And fair number die from it being too cold.
Anyhow, it’s too stupid to even discuss.
I rather talk about Venus. Now Venus absorbs less sunlight than Earth. Earth absorbs a lot of energy compared to other planets, and it absorbs a lot of energy because it has an ocean.
So, Venus gets about twice as sunlight at its distance compared Earth’s distance from the sun.
Venus absorbs about 160 watts and Earth absorbs 240 watts. And the surface air of Venus is very hot.
How much sunlight would Venus absorb if Venus was at Earth distance from the sun?
[mod] note – Venus is off-topic here
BWTM: How much longer will coal plants stay in business?
You have to pay for them, whether they are running or not. If they can’t make money, they close.
Being backup to someone else is not a good business model.
[…] Burning wood for energy is a ‘scandal’ that will worsen global warming, MPs argue […]
What’s wrong with burning wood?
Humans have been doing it for 300,000 years.
It’s waste grade from US forestry that would otherwise either be burned for nothing or landfilled to make methane.
Whichever side of the climate debate you are on, this whinging is just an example of the U.K.’s favourite national pastime – lace curtain twitching.
Phil Salmon says: ‘What’s wrong with burning wood?’
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The question should be: what’s wrong with burning wood to generate electricity, compared to burning coal and gas?
Answer: it’s more expensive, more inefficient (e.g. wood pellets have to be produced), there’s far less of it available and it solves nothing.
“It’s waste grade from US forestry that would otherwise either be burned for nothing or landfilled to make methane.”
[citation needed]
Government response to biomass protesters…
Press release
£26 million government funding to boost biomass in UK
Innovative biomass projects across the UK can bid for a share of £26 million to increase UK production of sustainable biomass.
From:
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and The Rt Hon Greg Hands MP
Published
20 December 2021
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Hands said:
“Developing greener fuels like biomass is key to helping the UK slash carbon emissions and drive down costs for consumers.
“This £26 million government investment will support innovators across the UK, boosting jobs and investment, and help ensure we have the homegrown supply we need to support our plans to build back greener and tackle climate change.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/26-million-government-funding-to-boost-biomass-in-uk
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How pompous and deluded do governments have to be to think they’re going to change the Earth’s climates?