INSIDER: Why Burning Trees for Energy Harms the Climate

The briefing challenges the perception that burning trees for energy is carbon neutral, noting that wood combustion can emit more CO2 per unit of energy than fossil fuels and creates a 'carbon payback time' that can last decades or centuries. It warns that increasing the EU's renewable energy targets may drive higher demand for tree harvesting, including imports from the U.S. and Canada, which would release a pulse of CO2 into the atmosphere at a time when rapid emissions reductions are required to meet global temperature goals. The author recommends that the EU phase out subsidies for stemwood and stumps and instead invest in wind, solar, and energy efficiency.

• Burning wood for energy can produce significantly higher smokestack CO2 emissions per unit of energy than fossil fuels. Specifically, emissions for heat can be 2.5 times higher than natural gas and 30 percent higher than coal, while electricity generation emissions can be more than three times higher than natural gas and 1.5 times those of coal per MWh.
• The process of burning trees creates a 'carbon payback time' or 'time to carbon parity'—the period before tree regrowth offsets the CO2 emissions relative to fossil fuel alternatives. Studies indicate these periods often range from decades to over a century, and in the case of mature forests, a complete payback may never occur if the replanted forest is regularly harvested.
• The EU's current renewable energy framework, which requires 20 percent of total energy needs to be met by renewables by 2020, relies heavily on wood, which accounts for up to 45 percent of all renewable energy consumed. Proposed increases in the target to 27-35 percent by 2030 are likely to increase the demand for tree harvesting and imports of wood pellets from Canada and the U.S.
• Certain tree-based feedstocks are identified as having shorter carbon payback periods and are more beneficial from an atmospheric CO2 perspective. These include urban wood waste, unused sawdust, black liquor from paper making, and forest slash left over after harvest.

APA

World Resources Institute (2017). INSIDER: Why Burning Trees for Energy Harms the Climate. https://www.wri.org/insights/insider-why-burning-trees-energy-harms-climate

Chicago

World Resources Institute. INSIDER: Why Burning Trees for Energy Harms the Climate. 2017. https://www.wri.org/insights/insider-why-burning-trees-energy-harms-climate.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=INSIDER: Why Burning Trees for Energy Harms the Climate |date=6 December 2017 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/insider-why-burning-trees-energy-harms-climate |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2017insider, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{INSIDER: Why Burning Trees for Energy Harms the Climate}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2017}, month = dec, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/insider-why-burning-trees-energy-harms-climate}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }