During our last spring semester, six fellow students and I worked together on a UNC Capstone course project with Dr. Andrew George, focused on bioenergy in the Carolinas. Though we were all students of the same program, we had varying sub-interests within the bioenergy umbrella.
Dogwood Alliance has been greatly anticipating the arrival of our new Advancement Systems Manager, Kelly Ball.
In April 2016 the US Green Building Council (USGBC) announced a new pilot credit that rewards the use of wood certified under the timber industry-backed Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).
“The message from conservationists and communities across the country is clear, burning wood for electricity is bad for our climate and quality of life,” said Adam Macon from Dogwood Alliance. “The US Senate should stick to the business of protecting the people and environment, not create sweetheart deals for their favorite industries at the expense of the rest of us.”
In the last five years, the South has seen explosive growth in wood pellet manufacturing—pellets which are being shipped across the Atlantic for use as a replacement fuel in Europe’s coal fired power plants. But while these exports are generating significant profits for European corporations, questions are being asked about both the environmental and economic consequences of this rapid expansion. From April 11th to the 14th, The International Biomass Conference & Expo will draw 1,500 attendees from across industry and government to Charlotte. The subject of wood pellet manufacturing and forest-to-biomass energy is likely to be a hot topic.
