https://missoulian.com/opinion/columnists/missoula-should-embrace-biofuels-as-solution-to-climate-change-forest/article_6b38ff77-717a-5b58-bb8b-9c0ad9e2d13a.html
Guest column
Missoula should embrace biofuels as solution to climate change, forest fires
WYATT DAY 2019.08.26
Raised in a small town in Montana, I have hiked deep into wildernesses
with a crosscut, floated the rivers and have seen spectacular views.
With a father who has led pack strings through the Bob Marshall
Wilderness and a mother who grew up in the heart of the Lolo National
Forest, I was immersed in nature and the challenges that are presented
before nature. With my ever-growing passion, I became interested in how
to best maintain the outdoors through its mostly human-caused trouble.
That interest led me down a path of learning various obstacles that
nature faced around the world, including the threat of a changing climate.
Today’s increase in greenhouse gases mimics the emissions from ancient
volcanoes that ultimately lead to a drastic change in the earth’s
climate. I was surprised to hear that the Missoula community had
mitigated a solution that the University of Montana had for diminishing
climate change and for one of Montana’s greatest problems: biofuels.
Biofuels are renewable sources of energy that are derived from plants.
They are usually considered unsustainable because of the space and
energy that is taken up for growing plants for biofuels. However,
western Montana has trees galore. With sustainable practices, places
like the University of Montana can reduce CO2 emissions and better
forest management.
Growing up in Montana gave me the ability to work and play in the
magnificent forests that make the state so amazing, but I also witnessed
the strife of wildfires. While "hiking deep into the wilderness with a
crosscut" when I was trail-clearing in the Bitterroot-Selway Wilderness,
I saw the effects of wildfires and the effects of climate change. A
remorseful site of charred poles cover the landscape in some areas,
while hundreds of trees lie around trails waiting for their turn.
A drying climate and more dying trees, due to overcrowding, invasive
species and disease, seem to have been causing worse fire seasons.
Montana had the largest wildfire, since 1910, in 2017 and the top five
years with the most acreage burned since the 1960s have all been after
2006, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Understandably, people would like to see nature stay unreformed by
humans. Sadly, we are past this point because of a history of
unsustainable practices. Humans are aiding forest fires by changing the
climate, humans have helped spread invasive species and humans have
started 85% of wildland fires in the United States. The least we can do
is reduce the amount of burning to a more natural level.
We can reduce wildfires by selectively logging timber in unhealthy areas
and utilizing debris. Then that lumber, though it may not be useful as a
product, can be used as energy. The University of Montana can burn
chipped logs as a renewable heat and energy source for the campus. This
will reduce the amount of carbon emissions from fossil fuels, which are
a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, fossil fuels can
emit more than four times more carbon dioxide than woodchip electricity
(Forest Research).
In most cases, biofuels are not efficient because the energy and land
necessary could not be sustainably offset by the carbon dioxide taken in
by the plants. However, the situation in western Montana is unique.
Overcrowded stands of trees can be made more healthy in trade for an
energy source. Therefore, the communities across western Montana have
the opportunity to create jobs, create better forests and work towards a
more carbon efficient earth.
The romanticized days of woodsman and the ideas for a cleaner earth can
blend. An outstanding opportunity to help our communities lies within
our grasp.
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