Bending scientific insights or selectively shopping in scientific findings is harmful to society.
That is the reaction of five scientists in response to recent statements in an opinion piece in the Volkskrant shouted Fenna Swart, Johan Vollenbroek and Maarten Visschers recently appointed Minister Stef Blok to denounce a directive on biomass combustion in Brussels. The reason given by the three was that the combustion of biomass does not cause less but more CO2 emissions. They stated that this is the consensus among scientists. As scientists who are actively working on this subject, they do not recognize this.
According to them, it is first important to mention that biomass as an energy source has many forms. Criticism often focuses on the combustion of woody biomass and possible negative consequences for biodiversity and air quality. However, the fact that the use of woody biomass under the right conditions leads to lower net CO2 emissions than burning coal or gas is virtually undisputed within science, as is also evident from the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Read the entire article in the Volkskrant
