At a forum held by Mathew Nott’s Clean Energy For Eternity Group in Bega recently, it seems that there was a very strong vote in support of Federal Member for Eden-Monaro Mike Kelly’s ‘50-50 by 2020’ for Eden-Monaro proposal. The proposal’s agenda appears to include the burning of native forest ‘waste’ for electricity generation in a $20 million power station to be constructed at the Eden woodchip mill.

Since reading about greenhouse induced global warming in 1968, I have been a dedicated activist for the use of clean energy.

I have built wind generators, small hydro plants, run a kitchen stove on methane gas made from cow poo and written articles and many letters on bio-fuels.

I have attempted to convince one South Coast sawmill to use their off cuts for electricity generation instead of just burning it.

This latest proposed environmental atrocity from the Eden wood chipper is wrong.

Selling electricity to the grid will lead to an increase in logging; we don’t live in 16th century England.

In an ideal world where scientific research findings would be respected and applied by our regulators, using waste from plantation and sustainable native forest saw log operations (if there is such a thing) to generate electricity should be acceptable.

Originally we were told that the heads and butts of trees would be used for woodchips, this does not happen.

Now mainly whole logs are used.

We are told paper and cardboard manufacture locks carbon away safely, and then the new trees soak up more CO2.

The truth is that nearly all the carbon contained in woodchips returns to the atmosphere within two and a half years as paper and cardboard burn or rot in a tip somewhere, the regrowth in a logged native forest would take up to 200 years to soak up the lost carbon.

Native forest logging in NSW produces as much CO2 as all the cars in Sydney.

I am inviting Mathew Nott to clarify whether CEFE endorses a native forest fuelled power station.

Mike Hadfield

Batemans Bay