A new investigation is sounding the alarm about the threat of Canada’s growing wood pellet export industry to forests and the climate.

A report released by Stand.earth documents how wood pellets are being made from whole trees from inland rainforests in British Columbia, and exported to overseas markets like the UK and Japan where they are burned for power generation. Burning biomass emits more greenhouse gases than burning coal, and research demonstrates that net emissions remain elevated for decades to more than a century.

The use of wood pellets for “renewable” energy production has grown due to massive subsidies both in Canada and in importing countries. In reality, flawed emissions accounting and devastating impacts on forests mean that this industry is one of the most polluting in the world. Canada is now the second largest exporter of wood pellets in the world.

Read the press release: Risky business: Canada props up wood pellet export as a false climate solution