In a major policy shift, South Korea announced Dec. 18 that it will end renewable energy subsidies for new biomass projects, as well as for state-owned coal and biomass cofired power plants starting in January 2025. The nation’s ministries also committed to phased reductions of subsidies supporting existing power plants using imported forest biomass fuel. The abrupt change is “the largest [biomass] policy rollback of its kind in Asia,” according to South Korean environmental nonprofit Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), and also among the largest policy shifts away from forest biomass subsidies by any nation worldwide. South Korea is currently Asia’s second-largest user of forest biomass for energy, importing 3.9 million metric tons of wood pellets as of April 2024. Scientists and forest advocates have long asserted that burning forest biomass to generate electricity isn’t carbon neutral, but creates more carbon emissions than coal per unit of energy produced, while the manufacture of wood pellets, a type of biomass fuel, causes deforestation and negatively impacts forest biodiversity. Although South Korea will continue to subsidize biomass fuel sourced domestically, advocates say they hope that reducing support for imported biomass will help alleviate pressure on forests threatened by Asia’s growing biomass market — particularly tropical forests in Southeast Asia. Tanks used to store biomass fuel at a biomass power plant in Okinawa prefecture, Japan. Advocates say they hope Japan will take similar steps as South Korea to wind down existing biomass subsidies. Image by Annelise Giseburt. ‘A step in the right direction’…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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