New publication: the Black Book of Bioenergy

We’re excited to announce that on 22 November, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, in collaboration with Transport & Environment, launched our new joint publication: The Black Book of Bioenergy.

Following extensive on-the-ground investigation, and after consulting an array of local sources, we have collected shocking new evidence that exposes the great carbon con of bioenergy. In the Black Book, we present a graphic visualisation of bioenergy’s dark side – one that casts a long shadow over our efforts to tackle climate change and preserve the planet.

While some may already be familiar with the news-grabbing horror stories from Indonesia (mass clearing of tropical forests for palm oil plantations) or the USA (forest devastation in the Southern states for the lucrative pellet industry), most people will be astonished to hear that similar scenarios are playing out right here in Europe.  The Black Book puts the spotlight on 8 such cases – all of which take place in Europe or are directly linked to European commercial or domestic markets.

In the photo album below, we present a first preview of our findings – from the burning of whole trees in Eastern Slovakia and the maize fields grown for biogas in Lower Saxony (Germany) to the pillaged riverbank forests of Emilia Romagna (Italy) and the shores of the Canary Islands.

At our launch party, on 22 November, award-winning Guardian journalist Arthur Neslen chaired a frank discussion with those who have witnessed these carbon crimes first-hand, and explored ways in which the EU can make sure that its upcoming bioenergy policy proposals will be green rather than green-washed.

Stay tuned and follow #EUBioenergy on Twitter.