Tag Archives: green
Investment In Forestry Continues to Provide Outstanding Returns say UPM Tilhill
The latest UPM Tilhill Timber Bulletin highlights and provides a unique insight into key factors relating to UK standing coniferous timber sales such as market share, performance of the market with a view to investment and, additionally, the impact of the growth in renewable energy. Very positive news is that UK processors continue to increase their market share which has risen from 41 per cent to 44.6 per cent by volume. This, says the report’s author UPM Tilhill’s Timber Operations Director Peter Whitfield, is a huge achievement. Timber Extraction He explains: “There was a dip in timber prices at the end of 2012 but there are signs of recovery in the first half of 2013. An increase in market share of nearly 4 per cent is an outstanding achievement which I believe has been helped by significant investment across the UK timber processing sector.” Investment in forestry continues to provide outstanding returns compared to practically any other investment. In 2012 the return on investment was 18.3 per cent and over the last 10 years the annualised return was 16.3 per cent. With the most recent forecast[ii] of softwood availability for the UK forest estate showing an increase to an average of 16 million m3 over the next 25 year period – 10.6 million m3 of this totalfromthe private sector and 5.4 million m3 from the Forestry Commission – the future looks bright for both the industry and investors. The report highlights the impact of pests and diseases on commercial tree species, particularly the spread of Phytophthora ramorum and Dothistroma needle blight on Pines, which is forcing processors to review how they handle the potential additional volumes of these species coming to market and driving foresters to examine alternative species. It also says the Sterling/Euro exchange rate remains a crucial factor in the success of the UK timber industry. Peter concluded: “Looking ahead there is good evidence that the level of timber market activity should continue as it has for the past few years, driven by favourable exchange rates, continued investment and growth of domestic processors, available timber and the demand for biomass.” UPM Tilhill, established more than 60 years ago, is a national company operating from a network of offices throughout the UK. UPM Tilhill is the UK’s largest forest management and timber harvesting company. The company provides a full range of consultancy and contracting services to the forest owner and forestry investor. Continue reading
Global Warming Might Be Reversed Using New Method
According to experts, a combination of tree and crop burning for energy and capturing and storing carbon dioxide underground (CCS) might just be the way to reverse global warming. However, Professor Christian Azar, the lead author of the study, maintains that to achieve temperature reversal, CCS and bioenergy must be combined with a large-scale expansion of nuclear power and renewable energy in order to reduce emissions to zero. In general, lowering emissions has been painfully slow. In fact, from 1990 to 2010 the International Energy Agency said the average amount of carbon dioxide produced for each unit of energy generated has not changed. Continue reading
Bioenergy With CCS Can ‘Reverse’ Global Warming
11 July 2013 By Edd Gent Global warming could be reversed by using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, according to Swedish researchers Researchers have claimed bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) could allow the world to reverse global warming. The team, from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, say the technology can reverse the global warming trend and push temperatures back below the global target of 2°C above pre-industrial levels, even if current policies fail and the world initially overshoots this target. In a paper published in journal Environmental Research Letters today, the researchers show that if BECCS is implemented on a large-scale along with other renewable energy sources, temperature increases can be as low as 1.5°C by 2150. Co-author of the study, Professor Christian Azar, said: “What we demonstrate in our paper is that even if we fail to keep temperature increases below 2°C, then we can reverse the warming trend and push temperatures back below the 2°C target by 2150. “To do so requires both large-scale use of BECCS and reducing other emissions to near-zero levels using other renewables, mainly solar energy, or nuclear power.” BECCS is a greenhouse gas mitigation technology based on bioenergy that produces fuel for power plants or transportation while simultaneously removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Trees and crops give off carbon dioxide when they are burnt as fuel, but also act as a carbon sink as they grow beforehand, absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These two processes cancel each other out, resulting in net zero emissions of carbon dioxide. When combined with carbon capture and storage – techniques that aim to pull carbon dioxide out of the flue gases from power plants and redirect it into geological storage locations – the overall carbon dioxide emissions are negative. If applied on a global scale, this could help to reverse global warming. In their study, the researchers developed an integrated global energy system and climate model that enabled them to assess the most cost-effective way forward for a given energy demand scenario and temperature target. They found that stringent temperature targets can be met at significantly lower costs if BECCS is implemented 30 to 50 years from now, although this may cause a temporary overshoot of the 2°C target. “The most policy relevant implication of our study is that even if current political gridlock causes global warming in excess of 2°C, we can reverse the temperature trend and reach targets later. This means that 2°C targets or even more ambitious targets can remain on the table in international climate negotiations,” Azar said. But, the authors caution against interpreting their study as an argument for delaying emission reductions in the near-term. Azar said: “BECCS can only reverse global warming if we have net negative emissions from the entire global energy system. This means that all other CO2 emissions need to be reduced to nearly zero. “Also, temperatures can only be reduced by about 0.6°C per century, which is too slow to act as an ’emergency brake’ if climate damages turn out to be too high. The more we reduce emissions now, the more ambitious targets we can achieve in the long term, even with BECCS. ” Continue reading
