Wood energy plays a vital role in helping New Zealand transition to a low-emissions future through conversions that replace fossil fuel use for heat and process energy.
Coal, gas and diesel are proven high-carbon emitting pollutants. But what makes biomass used to produce wood energy carbon neutral?
During their growth, trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere as CO2 and convert it into stored carbohydrates. So when burned, a tree releases the carbon it had stored up, carbon that would have been released anyway when the tree died and decomposed.
About 15-20% of a tree is wasted in the forestry wood processing industry. This residue is going to produce CO2 whether it is burned or allowed to rot. Radiata pine, which makes up 90% of the planted production forest area, are fast growing exotics that rapidly uptake CO2. Residue following harvest is used to produce wood fuel. When sites are replanted, more carbon is absorbed from the atmosphere through tree growth and creates a carbon neutral cycle.
New Zealand forestry practices are particularly efficient at creating this closed carbon loop. Rapid replanting and harvesting of pine is reflected in recent statistics which show an average forest standing age of 17 years.
The Coalition Government’s One Billion Trees initiative will enhance forestry’s role in reducing the effects of climate change by providing increased biomass for utilisation as fuel.
Wood energy is a sustainable, renewable, carbon neutral energy source.
Its use is cost-comparable to fossil fuels and conversions of industrial plants to this fuel source will help New Zealand transition to a low-emissions future.
Other benefits that result from wood energy include environmental clean-up. Azwood utilises residues from sustainable forestry, removing slash and waste wood from forestry skid sites. This diminishes fuel for forest fires, reduces the incidence and impact of erosion during extreme weather events, protects waterways from residues and erosion and assists with plant regrowth.
Azwood also repurposes waste products from the wood manufacturing process reducing landfill, preventing leachate in waterways and creating unique technical media for growing trees and crops, land enhancement, stormwater management and pollution control in a sustainable, closed loop circular economy.