The planet is in trouble. By now we should all know that. Societal emission of green-house gases, unabated, is changing our tiny speck of planet in ways that will, at very least, make large areas uninhabitable in our children’s lifetime.
Still, I have personally maintained hope. Recent changes in federal and state legislation, and a growing army of grass-roots groups and activists, are working to green our economy; decarbonize our buildings; speed the installation of solar and wind energy; electrify our transportation; and do all of this while centering environmental justice for the communities most at-risk.
I’m also a Physicist, one who marvels at every aspect of creation and still goes out at night to just stare at the stars. I value research and exploration and the innovation that springs from them.
But the pursuit of science and technology has limits. Limits that are far exceeded by France’s plans to burn 5300 hectares of the Amazon to provide energy for the EU Spaceport in French Guiana (link).
It is now clear that “biomass,” as currently used, is not a viable source of energy. Its use in power plants speeds the destruction of the planet. In many cases, burning wood or woody products to make electricity is worse than burning coal, emitting more in the way of green-house gases and deforesting large areas to do so. Claims of “no deforestation” by biomass producers are increasingly shown to be lies; for example, forests in South Carolina are regularly clear cut to make wood pellets burned in plants in the U.K., EU and Asia (link). Worldwide, governments are rethinking the use of biomass for electricity production. Australia outlawed its use at the end of last year. Sadly, other nations have yet to follow suit.
As scientists, we must reject the madness of burning the Amazon to power a spaceport. We can, and must, do better.