The Global Forest Resources Assessment of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) celebrates its 70th Anniversary in 2018 and, with March 21 designated as the International Day of Forests, it is fitting to point that out. As it happens, from a World Bio Markets conference room in Passenger Terminals Amsterdam (PTA), a splendid urban maritime location – with hardly a tree in sight.
In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 21 the International Day of Forests (IDF) in a bid to both celebrate and raise awareness of the “importance of all types of forests”. This year also happens to mark the 70th Anniversary of the Global Forest Resources Assessment of the FAO.
Part of the discussions during the World Bio Markets conference in Amsterdam centred on terminology and semantics when it comes to the use of biomass from agriculture and forests for biofuels and biochemicals. well embodied by UPM’s Biofore car that was parked at the conference reception.
Third-generation Canadian farmer and Vice-President of Ontario Federation of Agriculture Don McCabe brought it all down to Earth when he brutally conceded that he had no idea what 90 percent of the speakers were talking about – the first generation, second generation, decarbonisation or defossilisation terminology was just confusing and McCabe suggested the industry ought to do away with it.
McCabe is right, farmers and foresters grow crops and trees using the soil and, in doing so, manage biogenic cycles – carbon, nitrogen and water while giving rise to feedstocks for food, fodder and feed (which in themselves are all fuels and biogenic building blocks), as well as fibre, fuel, materials and products.
There was plenty of carbon talk during WBM 2018 and certainly the new joint report entitled “Bioenergy from Finnish forests: Sustainable, efficient, modern use of wood” by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) released on March 22, World Water Day, would have offered valuable insights on the development of sustainable forest bioenergy.
The report is timely and fitting, given that the IDF 2018 theme is forests and sustainable cities and that the majority of the global population now lives in an urban environment. This disconnect was intellectually very apparent and why McCabe’s bottom-line presentation was so refreshing – attending an international biofuels conference in a session discussing marine forest-derived biofuels in a venue overlooking the Port of Amsterdam with hardly a tree in sight.
