Wood pellets may not actually be green renewable energy source, critics say

[@papahemp1]

Anyone else notice the log truck running a red light at the 1:03 mark?

[@EvanMerkes1]

Pretty low effort investigative story. Complain about the wood pellet industry, no interview with a North Carolina forester on forest harvesting techniques so the viewers understand that clear cutting is appropriate at times, this is journalism? Then you provide absolutely zero alternatives to the pellet industry because there currently aren't any. Please by all means tell us then how to solve this issue? A lot of places use wood burning pellet stoves as a way to heat as its a lot cheaper fuel than propane and natural gas. So is CBS saying that low income households shouldn't have access to cheap heat, they just need to suck it up and freeze in winter? Until there's an alternative you're not going to see a change. People have to get access to reliable alternatives. Don't come up with solar and electric heat as a solution because that is not cheap, nor is it reliable in cold climates like Canada, northern US, and Europe. You want to solve the worlds energy problems then promote the research of nuclear fusion that would be a great start.

[@princiabenson7031]

Yes they need to make oil and gas cheaper. Without fracking which is also unhealthy.

[@princiabenson7031]

Woodsmoke is very cancerous.

[@Garrett572xpg]

Southern states have faster tree growth rates than Northern climates. It takes only 25 yrs not 100 yrs like Northern states to grow sawtimber sized trees. Vast majority of Southern clearcuts are replanted after harvest and managed intensively for wood production as a crop. Wood pellets are a highly renewable energy source and clean burning compared to coal which takes many thousands of yrs to form and requires way more diesel fueled machines to be mined and transported to electrical power plant facilities compared to a logging operation. Forests regrow in never ending life cycles they have forever since creation. Foresters should always be consulted if u are looking to have trees harvested from your property. They'll make sure your land is protected and replanted afterwards. If dealing only with a logger/ milll theres more of a risk of not having new seedlings planted after harvest. Wood pellets are a great renewable fuel source as long as forestlands are managed properly

[@truthbetold2914]

Whhaaaa.....these are the people that think electricity just comes out of thin air and when they plug in their electric car it's recharged with magic....

[@mannyechaluce3814]

Do it like we do in California, we just have wildfires, why? we don't cut tree in California

[@dannmarceau]

"They" don't care about you, mam.

[@thinktanktim]

Yall ever seen a lithium or cobalt mine?

[@pepperroni4016]

People driving around in Lithium Battery cars telling me not to heat my house with cheaper than oil wood pellets. Hahahahahha

[@lorilayton2223]

Why ?????!? How ??????? WTF !!!! Thank you for posting this . I hope this makes everyone plant a tree or several trees . Some where , some how .

[@tishw4576]

Are these companies who make pellets, and the energy companies who purchase them, at least putting funds into planting new trees? If not how are they going to have a product in the future? What kind of studies have been done or are being done to give us an idea of how the eco system is being impacted?

[@derrickballard1435]

All of the land that is clear cut is replanted within a year

[@mustolourien5823]

This is the same reasoning as carbon credit. Just pretending to be helping.

[@TJQuirk]

Plantation Pine has 3 cuttings. They thin at the 10 & 20 year mark to make room for big lumber trees to grow. They're using "toothpicks" or thinning cut to make pellets, at least in Louisiana and Mississippi. It has to be done, and the trees have to be used. Look up what a lithium mine to make ev batteries looks like and tell me what "green energy" you think is "DIsTrOyInG tHe EaRtH"

[@chechnya]

Haha, hard to compare a few lithium mines versus the whole oil/gas infrastructure that's literally destroying the planet. Poor comparison,, but I can understand the confusion, especially when you just repeat the same lies spewed from right wing media

[@OliverofAllTrades]

And the fact that pellets are made of waste that would otherwise be trashed for mulch.

[@shannonpaplow7754]

taking poor growth trees of low value and replanting with high value trees and creating jobs for the public are what is important,,, getting a little dust on your vehicle in not as important because that will wash off in the next hurricane that come thru that area and her car will get cleaned on the outside as well as flood water on the inside. Trees are a renewable item and so end of story,,, swamp areas will always regrow and at some point better that what was there before. CBS news always has a hard time telling the whole story and process to the public.

[@thinman141953]

This is poorly researched piece with a predetermined outcome. Shame on CBS for poor reporting.

[@heresteven]

Harvest the areas where forest fires are a problem. Smart harvesting will help prevent unnecessary forest fires and property damage.

[@richardlee2488]

Forest fires are nature's way to fight back at insect and other attacks. It helps to sterilise the forest. Property maybe lost as well as lives but 🤔 are we also the invaders?

[@Weslowski156788]

A pellet company called cubex they are 100% renewable, most of Europe uses pellets. Cutting a tree down or mining for lithium batteries which is worse

[@A3Kr0n]

What's the different path? Population has increased by 25 million already this year. That's a minimum of 25 million new acres of farm land, probably more depending on where you live. There are also 1000s and 1000s of new cars hitting the street in China every single day and they all need gas. What's the different path?

[@jeffreysmith4586]

Well in my opinion the different path is innovation, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. Yes EV's and renewables like solar, wind, hydro, and grid battery storage aren't perfect, but they are significantly better than what we are currently doing and prices on the cost of renewables and EV's are dropping as the tech matures.

[@terenceiutzi4003]

Of course they aren't! Grade 9 physics [the lower the energy concentration, the higher the CO2 output], they are ten times worse than coal.

[@emyoji1316]

@DonCalloway, you need to own up and get your team together. There are basic things you seem to be ignoring here.

[@eddeetz493]

When whole trees are being labeled limbs your eyes tell the truth. Wood is a crop that require management but not clear cutting and leaving a mess. Take a lesson from mine reclamation holding loggers to replant and get audited and inspected to deliver or face massive fines and or shutdowns. Younger trees do harvest more carbon. Now the government wants to stop firewood burning period with building codes. The industry would help alot of farmers and landowners vs paying for oil from country's that hate the USA. Force companies that don't reclaim the land to put up bonds.

[@phileasler5401]

It is for people using them…

[@cherylcarlson3315]

Wait, I thought saw dust came from the planing of boards for construction! If they truly took branches they left a heckuva lot on the ground. I thought clear cut had been banned years ago! certainly should have immediately done replant of the cut area. So very much wrong here.

[@rsm2312]

You live in a house? Where do you think the materials for this house came from? I do believe most of this negative reporting is due to the unsightly cutting site where there used to be trees.

[@tinycnyc]

trees take alot of time to grow back and you have to harvest them at the right time or it wont be efficient.. and tree infections.... idk why all of these compete against each other instead of working together and researching new materials..

[@baronvonlichtenstein]

That should be made illegal. And this is what news should be. Thanks.

[@PocoToro]

I see and say the same thing when I see a solar farm field,

[@Jimbobo162]

I’ve been saying this for years

[@marykeys10]

What a wasteful process at every step

[@jackcobbiii1797]

50acres a day in NC logged

[@jackcobbiii1797]

I’ve witnessed some say they want NC a parking lot:( sickness me

[@linzierogers5024]

They will cut down every tree in the US if given a chance. for what it's worth try making your own pellets if you can find a small pellet making nachine. They have them by the ship loads in China but for some reason there aren't a handful of companies selling them in the US.

[@aarononeal9830]

CBS this Morning needs to talk about Ecosia they are a search engine that plants tress ..

[@chrissyprice7483]

Wooow, so wasteful. Them were definitely were tree Trunks..

[@dandavatsdasa8345]

The beginnings of the USA were with large farms and large companies. What is right and what is wrong? What is the better way? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Thanks!

[@bobblenuts]

Hell yea, I believe everything I see and hear on CBS...🤣😂😅

[@tinycnyc]

oh my gosh i cant believe they have giant F*****ts laying around......

[@mannyechaluce3814]

Nothing is :D everything changes

[@Youtuber5775-]

Well I’m not going to buy a pellet stove anymore it’s so bad for the environment I’m so glad I watched this. That company should replant the trees they cleared away and what about the wildlife they disturbed? 🤯😞

[@nicolassmith1278]

Hi pretty lady. How are you

[@randallpartridge4275]

It's not bad for the environment. They are great for home use. Local lumber companies use the saw dust to make the pellet. The problem lies where power plants work around the law and use the whole tree as a pellet, instead of the waste from the tree .

[@kimhope9638]

Yes we need our trees and plants to draw down carbon into the soil our soil is a sponge. But when it's allowed to turn into desert and become rock hard like a brick it no longer draws down carbon. Also desertified soil does not provide for a local micro climate of moisture.

[@alisonmadden6471]

Jesus

[@Fellowtellurian]

This guy is such a liar. "They are just twigs" That guy is worst than trump.

[@elana137]

Wood is not renewable, please people get it.

[@georgedixon1190]

It only takes 20 years to regrow many trees . I’ve seen three harvestings on the same plot of acreage over my lifetime. To say that wood in NOT renewable is idiotic and or ignorant. Just research the data . There are more trees across America than when Europeans first arrived due to conservation and fire control . The problem Is cbs Only looks critically at one side with blinders on . Plus for three years they PROMOTED RUSSIAN COLLUSION DELUSION IGNORED HILLDABEAST DESTRUCTION OF SUBPOENAED EVIDENCE THE SPYING OF THE President Donald J Trump administration by the barrack hussain obama administration AND STILL IGNORES THE CORRUPTION ASSOCIATED WITH CLIMATE CHANGE BULLCRAP

[@Kastoraki]

It is if is being made with a sustainable way and consumed locally, not to be sent an ocean away burning oil for shipping.