Biomass plants have increased clearcutting and full-tree chipping in Nova Scotia. Young trees and saplings in regenerating stands only 20–40 years old are being full-tree chipped. Entire tree stands are cut before they become mature and before they can realize their wildlife potential. Clearcutting usually means that less valuable tree species regenerate on sites with reduced productivity. This is due to soil nutrient depletion and the processes of forest succession. Approximately 40% of the operable forest in Nova Scotia has been clearcut in the last 25 years.
Wildlife habitats, forest ecosystems, and waterways are being severely degraded by this kind of forestry and biomass removal under the guise of renewable energy. It is not sustainable.
Research at St. FX and Dalhousie Universities and elsewhere shows that clearcut soils release carbon. This has not been factored into the carbon picture, and further strains the provincial government position that this form of biomass is “green” energy.
Recent studies of biomass plants operating in the United States equate their carbon emissions with those of coal-fired facilities and, in my opinion, are far worse than coal. We need to stop this now else it will be too late for our native wild animals.
