Biomass has gotten a bit hot of late. The subject of several high profile documentary films including Michael Moore and Jeff Gibbs’ highly controversial Planet of the Humans as well as last year’s Burned, lawmakers within the European Union are finally starting to question its classification as a carbon-neutral and renewable fuel—especially as more scientific evidence emerges to the contrary. Despite advances in wind and solar, biomass still fuels 70% of global renewable energy. Michael Buchsbaum takes a look in the first of a multi-part series on biomass. The secret burning of trees Despite or perhaps because of the criticism it’s generated, in the months since its Earth Day release, Planet of the Humans (POTH) has been viewed nearly 10 million times. Castigated by many Big Green environmental groups and activists as “dangerous” for spreading “misinformation” about renewables, the film assaults our preconceptions about the energy transition’s progress partially by pointing out that nearly “70 percent” of the actual renewable energy portfolio worldwide is not wind turbines or solar panels but biomass. Indeed International Energy … Continue reading The secret burning of trees: the often overlooked role of biomass