Indonesian forests pay the price for the growing global biomass energy demand

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Enormous swathes of pristine wood are being trim down crossed Indonesia to proviso nan quickly rising world request for biomass worldly seen arsenic captious to galore countries' transitions to cleaner forms of energy.

Nearly each of nan biomass from forests destroyed for wood pellet accumulation since 2021 has been shipped to South Korea and Japan, The Associated Press recovered successful an introspection of outer images, institution records and Indonesian export data. Both countries person provided millions of dollars to support nan improvement of biomass accumulation and usage successful Indonesia.

Indonesia's state-run inferior besides has plans to dramatically summation nan magnitude of biomass it burns to make electricity.

Experts and environmentalists fearfulness nan rising world and home demand, coupled pinch anemic home regulation, will accelerate deforestation astatine nan aforesaid clip it prolongs nan usage of highly polluting fossil fuels. Biomass is integrated worldly for illustration plants, wood and waste, and galore coal-fired powerfulness plants tin beryllium easy modified to pain it alongside ember to make energy.

“Biomass accumulation — which is only precocious starting to beryllium seen connected an business standard successful Indonesia — is simply a dire caller threat to nan country's forests,” said Timer Manurung, head of Auriga Nusantara, an biology and conservation statement successful Indonesia.

As countries accelerate their power transitions, request for biomass is growing: The use of bioenergy has increased an mean of astir 3% per twelvemonth betwixt 2010 and 2022, nan International Energy Agency said.

Experts including nan IEA opportunity it's important for that request to hap successful a sustainable way, specified arsenic utilizing discarded and harvest residue alternatively than converting wood onshore to turn bioenergy crops. Deforestation contributes to erosion, damages biodiverse areas, threatens wildlife and humans who trust connected nan wood and intensifies disasters from utmost weather.

And many scientists and environmentalists person rejected nan usage of biomass altogether. They opportunity burning wood-based biomass tin emit much c than ember and tree-cutting greatly reduces forests' expertise to region c from nan atmosphere. Critics besides opportunity that utilizing biomass to co-fire, alternatively of transitioning straight to cleanable energy, simply prolongs nan usage of coal.

In Indonesia, biomass accumulation is causing deforestation crossed nan archipelago.

Auriga Nusantara reports that much than 9,740 hectares (24,070 acres) of wood person been cleared successful areas wherever biomass accumulation is permitted since 2020. Permits person been issued for complete 1.4 cardinal hectares (3,459,475 acres) of power plantation forests successful Indonesia, pinch complete one-third of that onshore being undisturbed forest. Over half of these concession areas are nan residence of flagship type specified arsenic sumatran rhino, elephants, orangutans and tigers, said Manurung.

In nan carbon-rich forests of Gorontalo, Sulawesi, nan felling, shredding and shipping of aged trees to make energy-dense wood pellets has been streamlined. Over 3,000 hectares (7,410 acres) of wood person been razed successful a concession owned by Banyan Tumbuh Lestari, from 2021 to 2024, according to outer study shared pinch AP by world biology statement Mighty Earth. An further 2,850 hectares (7,040 acres) were cleared for logging roads.

After trees are trim down, they're turned into wood pellets at a facility adjacent nan concessions owned by Biomasa Jaya Abadi, nan largest exporter of wood pellets from Indonesia from 2021-2023, according to information Auriga Nusantara compiled from nan Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry database. The database has nary records of wood pellet exports anterior to 2020.

Biomasa Jaya Abadi did not respond to repeated requests for interviews aliases comment. Banyan Tumbuh Lestari do not person interaction accusation publically available; AP contacted their main shareholders seeking remark but sewage nary response. Indonesia’s ministries of Environment and Forestry; Energy and Mineral Resources and Maritime Affairs and Investment did not respond to requests for comment.

Nearly each of Indonesia's wood pellet accumulation is shipped overseas to meet world demand, said Alloysius Joko Purwanto, an power economist astatine nan Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia.

Most of Indonesia's wood pellets went to South Korea (61%) and Japan (38%) from 2021-2023, according to authorities data.

“It's clear that Japan and South Korea's governments are trying to bargain much biomass from Indonesia to little their ain home emissions,” said Bhima Yudhistira, executive head of nan Indonesia-based Center of Economic and Law Studies.

Both countries person provided millions of dollars of financial support toward nan improvement of biomass successful Indonesia done research, policy, building and different support, according to a reappraisal of publically disposable business and authorities agreements by AP.

South Korea's Forest Service, which drives South Korea's biomass description and policy, did not reply to requests for comment. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries besides did not respond to a petition for comment.

The promotion of biomass accumulation and usage has coincided pinch nan ramping-up of Indonesia's home biomass use.

The country's authorities energy company, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), plans to instrumentality 10% biomass co-firing for 52 ember plants crossed nan country. PLN estimates that would return 8 cardinal tons of biomass a twelvemonth — acold greater than nan wood pellet industry's capacity astatine nan extremity of 2023 of little than 1 cardinal tons, according to Indonesian civilian nine statement Trend Asia.

To execute PLN’s ambitions, a 66% summation successful wood plantation onshore would beryllium needed — “which would apt travel astatine nan disbursal of intact, carbon-rich and carbon-absorbing forests,” according to a report by Mighty Earth.

PLN spokesperson Gregorius Adi Trianto told AP that nan company's scheme relied connected biomass from “organic discarded specified arsenic character branches, atom waste, and wood manufacture discarded ... alternatively than from actively logged forests.”

With Indonesia lacking clear regulations and oversight of its expanding biomass industry, experts fearfulness deforestation is apt to spike for years to come.

“We're already acold down erstwhile it comes to monitoring and regulating issues astir biomass accumulation successful Indonesia,” said Yudhistira. “There's decidedly a deficiency of owed diligence, and forests are suffering.”

___

Associated Press journalist Yuri Kageyama successful Tokyo contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press’ ambiance and biology sum receives financial support from aggregate backstage foundations. AP is solely responsible for each content. Find AP’s standards for moving pinch philanthropies, a database of supporters and funded sum areas astatine AP.org.