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Environmental Facts
WHY WE NEED TO HEAT WITH A RENEWABLE RESOURCE
In recent years there has been an enormous rise in awareness of the critical need to protect our environment. In particular of the need to protect our forest and woodlands. By utilising plantation grown firewood we are protecting our precious native forests and their eco-systems. Just as importantly, dead and fallen trees need the same protection. Collecting timber from our native forests can damage the habitat and endanger the future of the forest as a whole. Removing the dead wood affects the whole ecology of the area. Insects, spiders centipedes, lizards, mice and many bird species get their food out of this dead wood which is a vital part of their food chain. Fallen timber also assists with soil retention by intercepting and slowing water flow and assisting the accumulation of leaf litter retaining the soils nutrients.
In 2001 the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council endorsed the National Approach to Firewood Collection and Use in Australia report. It aims to ensure all firewood collection is ecologically sustainable and not a major cause of loss or degradation of remnant and woodland ecosystems or the habitats of threatened species. It also seeks to discourage collection of firewood and ensure firewood is obtained from sustainable sources in the long term. As part of its findings it is encouraging the importance of ensuring we all use plantation grown timber instead of native forest or woodland timber. Visit the Environment Australia web site for further details. WARM YOU AND YOUR FAMILY - NOT THE PLANET
Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. When wood burns, the carbon dioxide is released, only to be absorbed again by young trees. Because trees recycle carbon dioxide, wood burning just warms you, not the globe. Plantation grown firewood is an important renewable resource and a cost competitive source of energy. It also has the potential to help solve, rather than add to, Australia’s environmental problems. Renewable timber can also deliver other of benefits in addition to the conservation of bio-diversity. From the air-quality perspective, you can reduce particle emissions by ensuring you burn properly processed, correctly seasoned sustainable plantation timber that has been tested for moisture content before being on sold to the consumer. THE BIGGER PICTURE We know that the world is becoming more environmentally aware. A global consciousness to preserve the earth’s environment is driving change in international policy, exemplified by the United Nations approach to climate change, greenhouse gases and carbon credits. Plantation Forestry has become an environmentally friendly industry and is making a significant contribution to
Enviro Systems Renewable Resources is committed to the sustainable production of plantation timber – a renewable and biodegradable resource. |
Renewable
means you don't run out. Renewable means you don't deplete the earth's
resources. Wood is energy from the sun, stored
by the tree as it grows. When you burn wood you
are releasing this stored energy.
Native
forests and their wildlife are also important for our tourism income, with
Australia having more unique plants and animals living in our native
forests than any other country in the world.
The
potential exists for actually reducing Australia’s CO2 emissions with
the establishment of fuel wood plantations. When fuels burn they release
carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. Burning
fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas is like pumping carbon dioxide
from the centre of the earth into the atmosphere – a one-way trip.
