Editor,
In response to last week's article ("Tour touts benefits of wood biomass fuel," The Chief, Nov. 20), I would like to assert that switching from burning oil and gas to biomass as an energy source is going from the frying pan into the fire.
I am a huge advocate of recycling, and agree that clean wood waste should be recycled. However when we burn wood, the nutrients it contains are lost forever. In addition, it is not carbon-neutral.
Billions are being spent globally to develop biomass energy infrastructure, meanwhile enough energy hits the planet in one day via the sun than has been used by humans in the last 250 years!
Why are we not spending this money developing strategies to more effectively capture and store solar energy?
Meanwhile, depleted soils are a serious problem globally, and our increased dependency on chemical fertilizers is undermining water quality and having serious health implications for humans and fish habitat. Burning our biomass as a long-term solution to our energy woes is not environmentally sustainable.
By the way, some clean wood waste brought to the DOS landfill is taken to the compost facility in the Callaghan Valley, where it is recycled into a nutrient-rich soil amendment.
Jessica Reid
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