Joint press release by NABU, DUH, Robin Wood, biofuelwatch, BUND Berlin, Greenpeace Berlin, BBK and PowerShift
Berlin, 29.2.2024: In Berlin, the combustion of fresh and waste wood for district heating is to be greatly expanded, which is met with massive criticism by the environmental and consumer protection organisations NABU, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Robin Wood, Biofuelwatch, BUND Berlin, BBK and PowerShift. At the heart of the debate is the Berlin state government, which is currently buying back district heating networks and power plants from Vattenfall and is now also inheriting the dirty plans of the energy group. As a result of the ‘decarbonisation roadmap’1 presented in summer 2023, biomass is expected to account for the largest share of coal replacement by 2030. For this purpose, in addition to the existing wood-fired power plant Märkisches Viertel, new wood-fired power plants will initially be built at the Reuter West and Klingenberg sites. Further power plants would have to follow if, as planned, 17% of district heating is to come from wood combustion by 2030. In order to achieve this goal, up to 1.6 million tons of wood would have to be burned in Berlin every year. Berlin City Cleaning is also planning a new waste wood power plant on Gradestraße in Berlin Neukölln.
The environmental associations call on the city of Berlin to say goodbye to Vattenfall's wood burning plans and to use the agreed takeover of Berlin's district heating supply as an opportunity for truly climate-friendly energies. In an information paper published today, they present the serious consequences of Vattenfall's plans to expand wood burning in Berlin and point to the climate and environmental impact of such a project. The information document states:
“(...) the climate crisis is far too advanced for us to afford a “transitional phase” with other carbon-intensive forms of energy, such as natural gas and woody biomass. Burning the latter is doubly damaging, as overexploitation is carried out on ecosystems that, in addition to mitigating climate extremes and preserving biodiversity, fulfil countless other important ecosystem functions.”
The wood used by Vattenfall already comes predominantly directly from the forest. Due to the large future quantity, forest wood would have to be procured nationally. For comparison: 1.6 million tons of firewood corresponds to a large part of the total annual logging of wood in Brandenburg.
With the takeover of the power plants and the district heating network, the Berlin Senate is now called upon to finally put the city's heat supply on a green path. In their information paper, the environmental associations call for:
“The Berlin government must move away from the planned insane expansion of wood burning and ensure that the heat supply is actually decarbonised. No new biomass boilers may be built. Vattenfall’s ‘decarbonisation roadmap’ shall not be adopted under any circumstances.’
As part of municipal heat planning, the city is now required to set the course for a heat supply from renewable heat potentials without carbon-rich fuels. A study by the Fraunhofer Institute shows how the heat supply in Berlin can be renewable by 2035.
Links:
- You can find the information paper here.
- The Fraunhofer Institute's study is available at: Fraunhofer IEE (2021) ‘Potential study on climate-neutral heat supply Berlin 2035’: https://relaunch.buerger-begehren-klimaschutz.de/wpcontent/uploads/2021/10/Potenzialstudie_Berlin.pdf
Press contact:
- NABU: Michaela Kruse, Bioenergy Officer, Mobil + 49 (0)162 2953 083, Michaela.Kruse@NABU.de
- PowerShift e.V.: Neelke Wagner, Climate and Resource Justice, Mobile: +49(0) 15752466 920, neelke.wagner@power-shift.de
