To meet its CO2 reductions targets, Hamburg plans to deforest Africa in order to substitute coal with wood at its power plants!
Substituting coal with wood from Africa
German environmental protection group ROBIN WOOD here recently issued a press release calling on the city of Hamburg, Germany, to cancel its plan to replace coal with imported bush wood from Namibia at its power plants, such as the Tiefstack cogeneration plant.
In May 2020, a “Memorandum of Understanding” became known, according to which the Hamburg environmental authority (BUKEA) and Wärme Hamburg GmbH are examining a project of this kind.
ROBIN WOOD is firmly opposed to this project of a “Transcontinental Biomass Partnership Namibia – Hamburg”, which is being promoted by the German Association for International Cooperation (GIZ).
“Obliged” to pursue “socially just, climate-friendly” renewable energies
“With the referendum on the buyback of the energy networks, which was won in 2013, the Hamburg Senate was obliged to pursue the goal of a “socially just, climate-friendly and democratically controlled energy supply from renewable energies,” says the ROBIN WOOD press release. “The intended burning of bush wood from Namibia clearly contradicts this goal.”
Voters apparently were not well informed what meeting the climate-friendly” goals really entailed when they voted.
Namibia land use – to benefit crony euro-corporations
Because of the long transport distances and especially because of changes in land use in Namibia, this form of energy supply would not be climate-compatible.
The German environmental group also claims “the main beneficiaries would be corporations in the global North, which would be able to sell machines and transport vehicles and supply themselves with raw materials.”
No transparency
ROBIN WOOD also accuses the green-socialist Hamburg Senate of avoiding an open-ended debate about the project and criticizes the lack of transparency and democratic control.
“We are calling for a climate-friendly, 100 percent renewable energy supply that does not require the neo-colonial import of resources from the global south,” says Ronja Heise, ROBIN WOOD energy consultant.
Namibia already lacking energy
“Namibia is itself in an energy crisis and is importing up to 60 percent dirty coal power from neighboring countries to cover its local energy needs. Instead of exporting biomass, Namibia should use it to produce electricity in its own country. Sustainable methods for bush clearance must be applied. Bushes are an important carbon sink. They must therefore only be harvested in a targeted manner, which cannot be guaranteed if very large quantities of wood are exported,” says Bertchen Kohrs, Director of the organization Earthlife Namibia.
Green-socialist Senate claims support for the project
“The Hamburg Senate, in its response to a written petition, gave the impression that the NGOs, which oppose bush wood imports would have a similar number of supporters. This is wrong,” said Gilbert Siegler of the Hamburg Energy Table.
“We invite other organizations to join the signatories in opposing the implementation of a ‘Biomass Partnership with Namibia’. This pretense of climate protection must be prevented.”
The signatories of the petition call on the Hamburg environmental authority to stop pursuing this project and to work towards an energy supply for Hamburg that is in line with the binding goals of the referendum.
Read more at No Tricks Zone
Two things. First, more Euro-colonialism in taking advantage of a poor African country for their own financial and political use. But the bigger one is second–burning trees that cannot be easily and quickly replaced with new growth of trees. All that will happen is the deforestation around the world. Totally asinine but then what among the greens isn’t.
It is beyond belief that these people can be so stupid.
Please, someone, explain the logic of this practice to me.
J. Horgan, the Premier of British Columbia, is allowing forests to be harvested to make wood pellets that are sent by ship to Britain to produce electricity. Once elected, do most politicians take courses on how to be incredibly stupid? Trees absorb carbon and create oxygen. Burning the pellets releases the captured carbon.
Wonder what the Pope or Bishop McElroy would say about this rape of the planet to save the planet
https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/10/21/climate-change-and-religion/
Where is The Sierra Club or Greenpeace what is Julia(Butterfly)Hill and her nutty friends to oppose this all?
Honest question: How hard would it be to restart the nuclear power stations that were stupidly idled by Merkel’s insane Energiewende policy? The infrastructure certainly hasn’t been disassembled nor demolished in the few short years since this asinine decision was taken. Wouldn’t it be possible to throw out Merkel et al and fire up the reactors again.
Rhee, I guess it would depend on whether they removed the fuel instead of just keeping the reactors shutdown with water circulating thru the reactor core. If the latter I wouldn’t think it would be too hard to restart once all equipment was tested out. I used to operate reactors in the Navy so have familiarity with the systems involved (obviously smaller reactors than commercial reactors but the technology is similar).