This 2012 Forestry NSW document was revealed at a public meeting held in Wauchope NSW in response to Federal MP Rob Oakeshott supporting changing the law to allow burning native forests for energy. Note that the forestry department states (p.12) that the source of the wood biomass would be waste left on the forest floor, i.e. 219 Kt per annum that would otherwise be left to decay and that ‘no extra trees’ would need to be cut down. Now NSW DPI admits that it will only use the trunks and that it will cut down trees for the wood biomass trade and that it will leave the trees and branches and debris in the forests. The department is now talking about removing 1 million tonnes of tree wood per annum for the wood bioenergy industry; this will affect the statistics in this document re the amount of carbon that forestry intends to leave ‘locked up’ (living) in a forest. That previously locked up carbon store would be released to the atmosphere when burnt – as dangerous CO2 emissions.
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