"Carbon Neutrality Is a Fact" The Need for Climate Change Response Through Healthy Bioenergy

Examining South Korea's long-term low-carbon development strategy (2050) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, the government plans to actively respond to climate change by promoting domestic wood products, including utilizing forests as a sustainable energy source through proper forest management.

Recently, the Korea Forest Service also announced its 2050 carbon neutrality promotion strategy, drawing attention to the serious aging phenomenon of South Korea's forests. The greenhouse gas absorption by forests was 45.6 million tons in 2018, accounting for 6.3% of the total emissions (728 million tons), but it is projected to decrease to 14 million tons by 2050 due to aging. This indicates that preservation alone is not sufficient. It means that healthy forests must be cultivated by replacing billions of trees with appropriate species.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an intergovernmental body with 195 member countries, bioenergy utilizing forests is defined as a key mechanism to respond to the climate crisis and is recognized as an important source of carbon neutrality. Contrary to some opinions, the IPCC has never stated that bioenergy is not carbon neutral. The IPCC's guidelines emphasize the need for additional data collection by each country to more accurately estimate CO2 emissions from bioenergy.

Therefore, it is a clear fact that biomass itself is carbon neutral. However, experts explain that when scientifically interpreting the modern use of biomass, differences may arise regarding whether it is 100% carbon neutral or not.

In fact, the IPCC maintains the fundamental principle in its 2019 guideline revision that CO2 emissions are not separately calculated when biomass is used as a fuel energy source. The International Energy Agency (IEA) holds the position that there is no carbon accounting error overlooked due to double counting during biomass combustion, and that biomass is indeed carbon neutral. In particular, the IEA argues that when discussing the climate change effects of using biomass as energy, it is not appropriate to decide solely by comparing greenhouse gas emissions at the point of combustion.

The IPCC defines carbon emissions from forests and land use during the process of tree harvesting as AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use). Although the AFOLU sector is accounted for in greenhouse gas statistics, it prohibits additional calculations assuming that stored carbon is emitted when wood is used as an energy source, considering this as double counting between sectors, which is referred to as the prohibition of double counting of carbon emissions.

The principle of prohibiting double counting between sectors mentioned here is an international agreement and should not be shaken by some claims. However, both the IEA and IPCC emphasize the need for management such as estimating and reporting CO2 emissions in the production and use of biomass.

Especially, the IEA points out that consistency in interpreting international agreements is important with an objective attitude. While it is true that there are CO2 emissions indirectly caused by the use of fossil fuels when utilizing biomass, these emissions are negligible compared to the climate benefits gained from using biomass.

Regarding systemic issues in the bioenergy supply chain, the IEA states, "Analysis shows that fossil energy used in the supply chain generally constitutes a very small portion of the energy content of bioenergy products." Rather, it is the carbon loss caused by natural or artificial disturbances such as urbanization, wildfires, and pests related to forests that has a greater impact on climate change. This suggests that terrestrial wind power or mountain solar power, which involve deforestation without immediate forest restoration, could be interpreted as having negative effects from a climate change perspective.

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Researcher Lee Soo-min of the National Institute of Forest Science emphasized, "The share of a specific energy source in the REC market is approaching 50%, intensifying bias, and coupled with the downward trend in REC spot market prices since 2018, recovery to normal prices seems distant. Considering the power generation relative to installed capacity in 2019, solar power is about 12.8%, wind power about 20.1%, but the utilization rate of bioenergy facilities is 64.4%. It is necessary to recognize this reality and keep in mind the extent to which bioenergy contributes to a stable renewable energy system."

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