Open Letter to Berlin Politics: Environmental and climate protection organisations and scientists call for limiting wood burning and climate-friendly district heating
Berlin, 02.07.2024: Numerous environmental and climate protection organisations, including NABU, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, ROBIN WOOD, PowerShift and BUND Berlin, have joined forces with support from academia. open letter addressed to the Berlin senators Franziska Giffey and Ute Bonde as well as the chairmen of the parliamentary group of the House of Representatives. Under the title ‘Designing Berlin district heating climate-friendly and without expanding wood combustion!’, they call for a reorientation of Berlin’s heat supply after the purchase by the Land of Berlin.
The previous plans of the former grid and plant operator Vattenfall foresee a massive expansion of the incineration of wood and waste and also rely on immense amounts of hydrogen. A new wood-fired power plant is currently being planned at the Reuter-West site and more are to follow. It now calls for a fundamental revision of Vattenfall's plans and a focus on truly climate-friendly solutions. The letter to Berlin's politicians states:
“As representatives of civil society and academia, we hereby call on you to launch this revision in a timely manner. The planning for the Reuter-West wood-fired power plant, which has begun with the scoping process, must be stopped. First, the potential of geothermal energy and other renewable alternatives must be finally identified. On this basis, consistent municipal heating planning must be provided, also taking into account the heat demand for the planned housing projects in new urban districts.’
Vattenfall’s ‘decarbonisation roadmap’ envisages replacing hard coal primarily with wood and generating around 17 per cent of heat with biomass by 2030. Already, about 100,000 tons of wood per year are burned in the two combined heat and power plants Moabit and Märkisches Viertel, which supply one percent of district heating. If the plans remain in place, up to 1.6 million tons of wood could be burned per year in six years.
Contrary to the statements of Berliner Energie und Wärme AG (BEW), this quantity will still have to be mainly forest wood, as neither wood from short rotation plantations nor landscape maintenance material can be increased to the required extent. Waste wood is already being burned in large quantities in the region. An increase in recycling should be sought instead of building up new combustion capacities. Also from the recently published Potential analysis for biomass of the Berlin Senate shows that the amount of “woody biomass” that can be used for energy purposes in the city will not increase in the future. Accordingly, a large part of the woody biomass will have to be procured nationally in the future. This increases the pressure on the forests in the catchment radius, warn the senders of the letter.
In their open letter, environmental organizations and scientists warn against switching from one climate-damaging energy source to the next, as this would further fuel the climate crisis. In that regard, it is stated that:
‘The burning of forest wood causes scientifically undisputed high CO2 emissions – these are higher than that of hard coal and twice as high as that of natural gas (55 thousand kg/TJ) in product terms at 103 thousand kg/TJ, as the Senate Environment Administration itself notes. Wood is the fuel with the highest CO2 emissions and the lowest calorific value. In addition, the CO2 sinking function of forests is reduced by the removal of wood.’
Consequently, with the switch from coal to wood combustion, Berlin could only become climate-neutral on paper, as in reality high CO2 emissions continue to occur. Instead, the signatory organizations and scientists call on the Berlin Senate to build a price-stable, long-term sustainable and truly climate-friendly renewable heat supply.
Open letter from NGOs and academia: www.nabu.de/imperia/md/content/nabude/energie/biomasse/2024-07-01_offener_brief_berlin_fernwaerme.pdf
More detailed information can be found in this info paper: 240220-nabu-holzverbrennung-infopapier-berlin.pdf
Contact:
- NABU: Eric Häublein, Bioenergy Officer, Mobile: +49 (0) 162 2694 781, e-mail: Eric.haeublein(at)NABU.de
- BUND Berlin: Julia Epp, CEO, Mobile: +49(0) 176 9698 0219, e-mail: Epp(at)bund-berlin.de
- PowerShift e.V.: Neelke Wagner, Climate and Resource Justice Officer, Mobile: +49(0) 1575 2466 920, e-mail: neelke.wagner(at)power-shift.de
