Race for renewables burns through Europe’s forests
Wood pellets are sold as a clean alternative to coal, but campaigners say that a subsidized bioenergy boom in Europe is accelerating the climate crisis
By Hazel Sheffield / The Guardian
Kalev Jarvik stands on a bald patch of land in the heart of Estonia’s Haanja nature reserve and remembers when he could walk straight from one side of the reserve to the other under a canopy of trees.
Jarvik has lived in the Haanja uplands in the southern county of Voru for more than 10 years. His closeness to the forest has shaped his life as a carpenter and the fortunes of the surrounding villages, with their handicraft traditions a substitute for farming on the poor arable land.
Carbon-neutrality is a fairy tale : how the race for renewables is burning Europe s forests Hazel Sheffield
Kalev Järvik stands on a bald patch of land in the heart of Estonia’s Haanja nature reserve and remembers when he could walk straight from one side of the reserve to the other under a canopy of trees.
Järvik has lived in the Haanja uplands in the southern county of Võru for more than 10 years. His closeness to the forest has shaped his life as a carpenter and the fortunes of the surrounding villages, with their handicraft traditions – a substitute for farming on the poor arable land. Upcountry, travel literature promotes the region to city dwellers, promising its ancient woodlands as a place to rest and reinvigorate the mind.
(OMV) The test run of the world’s largest bioethanol plant based on wood has proven successful; OMV and AustroCel start cooperation with second-generation bioethanol; 1.5 million liters a month of the advanced biofuel will be delivered from January 2021; Substituting biofuel for fossil fuel will save around 45,000 metric tons of CO2 per year
The first successful trial delivery of advanced bioethanol marks the start of the long-term cooperation between OMV, the integrated, international oil, gas and petrochemicals company headquartered in Vienna, and AustroCel Hallein GmbH. The Hallein-based bioethanol plant has an annual capacity of up to 35 million liters, making it the world’s largest bioethanol plant based on wood. In the first year AustroCel Hallein will already supply more than 1.5 million liters per month of second-generation bioethanol to OMV. With this, the cooperation partners are contributing to climate protection.
AustroCel Hallein supplying OMV with celluosic ethanol
The first successful trial delivery of advanced cellulosic ethanol marks the start of the long-term cooperation between OMV, the integrated, international oil, gas and petrochemicals company headquartered in Vienna, and AustroCel Hallein GmbH. The Hallein-based bioethanol plant has an annual capacity of up to 35 million liters (9.2 million gallons US), making it the world’s largest bioethanol plant based on wood.
In the first year AustroCel Hallein will supply more than 1.5 million liters (400,000 gallons US) per month of second-generation bioethanol to OMV.
Bioethanol from Hallein will be produced exclusively from cellulose scrap, making it exceptionally environmentally friendly as no food or animal feed is used in the process. The bioethanol is extracted from the wood sugars left over in cellulose production before being fermented and distilled.
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