Biomass power developments are threatening over 10 million hectares of intact tropical forests in Indonesia, including 127 Key Biodiversity Areas, according to a report.

The country’s forests face unprecedented threats from increased domestic and foreign demand for wood pellets (biomass) by wood-to-energy plants, said the study, carried out by NGOs Earth Insight, Auriga Nusantara, Forest Watch Indonesia, Trend Asia, Solutions for our Climate, and Mighty Earth.

“Field investigations document massive forest impacts near a wood pellet plant,” said Earth Insight.

“Overall, there are more than 10 mln ha of undisturbed forests in the haul zones of wood chip mills and co-firing plants combined,” added the report.

These areas overlap with 4.1 mln ha of threatened orangutan habitat, much of it in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Researchers warned that deforestation is slated to expand further due to Indonesia’s plan to rely on wood for energy generation.

The country intends to triple its biomass consumption in power generation to 2.83 mln metric tonnes this year, from 991,000 tonnes in 2023.

FOREIGN DEMAND

Subsidy programmes in Japan and South Korea, the world’s second and third largest wood pellet markets after the UK, have triggered a surge in the production of biomass from forests across Southeast Asia.

The two countries combined purchased more than 99% of Indonesia’s exported wood pellets between 2021 and 2023.

“Energy companies, including palm oil and fossil fuels, are entering the wood energy business,” said the report.

“In particular, many of the same companies that supply coal to Indonesia’s coal-firing power plants now operate vertically integrated supply chains for co-firing wood with coal.”

Other companies, such as Tokyo-based renewable developer Erex, have recently taken steps to expand their biomass production capacity in Southeast Asia and generate carbon credits for international trade as well as for use in the emerging domestic carbon market.

“Governments and institutions should divert the billions of dollars currently funding the false climate solution of burning wood into true renewable energy, such as solar and wind,” said the report.

According to data published this week by civil society-led initiative Forest Declaration Assessment, clearcutting in Southeast Asia spiked to 1.83 mln ha last year, with Indonesia’s deforestation alone soaring by 57% compared to 2022, mainly driven by the palm oil, pulp, and mining sectors.

An estimated 721,000 ha of forests across the country were cleared for the extraction of coal, gold, nickel, and other rare metals between 2001 and 2023, said a separate report released in July.

By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com

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