Warrick Jordan
The forestry industry, however, is expending significant energy into stirring this forest-consuming phoenix from the proverbial ashes. 
Pictures: Rob Blakers
“Forests are a global treasure; and a source of beauty, inspiration, recreation and outstanding products”. Tackle Climate Change – Use Wood (Canadian Edition).
To those many inhabitants of planet Earth who perceive that the value of forests is unattached to any anthropical utility, the above statement is anathema. For the “new” forestry industry, however, the extraction of every last dollar from our forested landscapes is an ongoing pursuit. The search for new markets and the utilisation of new technologies underpins this quest. Steam driven sawmills, chainsaws, the emergence of high technology machinery from the Second World War, Jinka log trucks,and rotary veneer mills have all accelerated the conversion of ancient forests into dollars. The techno-envelope continues to be pushed, with emerging technologies such as John Deere mechanical harvesters that walk through forests like giant arachnids having the potential to increase the efficient dismemberment of ecosystems.
The latest scheme hatched by the international and Australian forestry industries,however, owes more to Ned Ludd than to the creators of sci-fi logging machines. In 17th century Britain, the cartels that monopolised the supply of wood to the emerging mercantile/industrial economy were superseded by new technology (coal). Now it seems, the forestry industry is seeking to turn back the clock, combining disingenuous climate change rhetoric, a collapsing woodchip market, and some opportunistic riding of the renewable energy bandwagon in order to push their latest money spinner – native forest fired electricity generation, or “dead Koala” power.
Over the past decade the Australian forestry industry has pursued a number of native forest fired power stations. Southern Tasmania, the New South Wales south coast, the Hunter Valley, south west Western Australia, and other areas have all seen proposals for these projects. Some of these projects, such as Manjimup and Raymond Terrace, have failed due to a combination of community opposition, state government regulations, and the uncertain economics of such projects. Other projects, such as Southwood, in Tasmania’s Southern Forests, have been placed on the back burner as investors have lost confidence, despite constant industry promotion.
The forestry industry, however, is expending significant energy into stirring this forest-consuming phoenix from the proverbial ashes. South East Fibre Exports(SEFE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese timber giant Harris Daishowa, has well advanced plans for the construction of a power plant at its Eden chipmill on the NSW south coast and is actively shopping for retailers to buy the electricity generated, while wood supply agreements have been signed for a plant in Collie, Western Australia. The plans for Gunns Limited’s pulp mill in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley contain a plant that will consume over 500,000 tonnes of native forest per year.
The key thread that runs through all these proposals, past, present, and future, is that they are wildly unpopular. Communities, consumers, conservationists, electricity retailers and state governments in NSW and Victoria have either been vehemently opposed or reticent to legitimise a process which involves large scale extraction of timber from native forests. Nevertheless, companies such as SEFE, Gunns, Forestry Tasmania and others continue to solicit investors and retailers to support these projects.
The main impetus for the proliferation of project proposals has been the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000. Under this legislation, each energy retailer must purchase a specified number of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), with these generated by certified renewable energy producers. This piece of legislation counts native forest fired power as being eligible for these certificates. A main proponent of this industry, the National Association of Forest Industries, freely admits that without this subsidisation by retailers and ultimately consumers, native forest power is not economically viable.
The Renewable Energy Act includes regulations which require that the wood which supplies feedstock for native forest biomass must come from coupes where there is more high value products extracted than low value products. In effect, this puts restrictions on how much wood can be supplied, particularly given that woodchip volumes in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania are generally in the order of 60 -90% . The recent, ongoing review of the Act, designed to increase the size of the overall renewable energy target, saw significant representations from the forestry industry aimed at removing regulations such as the ‘high value’ clause which inhibit native forest biomass projects.
Indications are that the existing regulations will not be changed, however the planned amendments to the Act are likely to overide bans on native forest power in the domestic NSW and Victorian renewables schemes, and native forests will retain eligibility for Renewable Energy Certificates.
This continued legislative support encourages the proliferation of native forest-fired power, with the potential problems resulting being both wide ranging and significant in scale.The establishment of such an industry will almost inevitably result significant greenhouse gas emissions, damage to already fragmented and degraded natural ecosystems, and perverse disincentives for the development of truly renewable energy sources.
The persistence demonstrated by both the forestry industry in pursuing native forest power and local communities and conservationists in resisting its establishment make it appear likely that this will continue to be a key conservation issue in coming times. The added ingredient of climate change provides a high likelihood that the wider community will become increasingly aware of this issue.
Long time observers of this debate may well have noted the similarities between native forest fired power and the murderous protagonists in many a B-grade horror film – no matter how many near fatal injuries are inflicted, those wishing to ensure its demise are well advised to make sure it is actually dead before turning their backs.
Native Forest Fired Power – Key Issues
• Forestry industry claims regarding the carbon neutral status of burning native forests are based on largely flawed accounting methodologies which ignore emissions from forests which existed prior to January 1, 1990, and also in future sequestration in regrowing forests which is both small in scale and occurring over timeframes of decades to centuries – that is too late to compensate for immediate emissions;
• The recognition of native forests as being a renewable generation resource creates perverse outcomes for emissions reductions as it provides additional assistance to an already heavily subsidised industry to create heavily emitting projects with unfair competitive advantages over truly renewable sources;
• The forestry industry is seeking new markets and subsidies in order to support a native forest woodchipping industry beleaguered by the withdrawal of social licence,changing consumer and market demands, particularly in Japan, and recent market downturns.Industry trends in the U.S. point to large scale promotion and conversion of the
woodchip industry from pulp and paper production to bio-energy production;
• Current industrial forestry procedures have large scale adverse impacts on biodiversity, hydrology, and other ecosystem values and any additional extraction, will have additional deleterious impacts;
• Government and electricity retailer support for native forest fired power has the potential to undermine public confidence in legitimate emissions reduction efforts at a time when the scientific consensus is moving rapidly towards a need for much greater emissions cuts than those being considered by governments and at international negotiations.
The newly formed Australian Forests and Climate Alliance (AFCA) is currently addressing the native forest biomass issue. For details about AFCA and biomass contact [email protected] or see www.greenlivingpedia.com/Australian_Forest_and_Climate_Alliance .
For further details see www.huon.org/HVEC%20Native%20Forest%20Fired%20Power%20Brief%20Feb.%202009.pdf or www.coolforests.org.
This article also appears in the upcoming second edition of WAI Quarterly, a new national independent newspaper. www.waiquarterly.wordpress.com .
