How to protect forests and get energy at the same time

• Theresa Warrior

  Madrid

Updated Monday, March 21, 2022-00:18

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55% of the Spanish territory is occupied by forest area.

There are 28 million hectares, of which 18 million are wooded (we have around 7,500 million trees).

"We are the second European country with the largest forest area, after Sweden, and the one that increases the most every year, as it continues to grow fundamentally due to the abandonment of activity in rural areas," says Raúl de la Calle Santillana, general secretary of the Official Association of Forest Technical Engineers.

The accumulation of large amounts of biomass - forest and agricultural waste generated by clearing mountains and pruning crops respectively - favor forest fires, which last year devastated some 86,000 hectares in Spain.

All that material in the natural environment, together with the drought that we are suffering, is a propitious combination for fire.

"The forecast for 2022 is similar to that of recent years. There is fear that there will be fires with a lot of power and a high speed of spread. Last year we had two very striking ones, the one in Navalacruz (Ávila) and the Sierra Bermeja (Málaga) , with times when it was not possible to turn them off due to weather conditions and the continuity of fuel that the accumulation of forest material implies," he explains in a telephone conversation.

Silvicultural treatment of stone pine in Coca (Segovia). Jorge Mateos

For this reason, on the occasion of the International Day of Forests that is celebrated this Monday, forest engineers are calling not only for Spain to better manage them, protect them and make them more resistant to fires, pests and the consequences of climate change, but also to take advantage of that biomass to produce renewable energy and generate new jobs in rural areas.

According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 31% of the world's land area is occupied by forests, which store 296 gigatons of carbon and are home to most of the world's terrestrial biodiversity. world.

"The war in Ukraine has once again highlighted our energy dependence on politically unstable countries. And it's not just about Russia, a gas pipeline from Algeria was closed a few months ago and we have to reduce our dependence on these countries.

given the geopolitical situation, and taking into account that with the energy produced by biomass there are no price increases or volatility of the hydrocarbon market," he argues.

Chips at the Biomass Production and Logistics Center in Lozoyuela (Madrid).RAÚL DE LA CALLE

According to data from the III National Forest Inventory, in Spain 46 million cubic meters of biomass could be extracted annually, but currently between 15 and 19 million cubic meters approximately are used.

"Of course,

but rather taking advantage of it to obtain local energy and generate jobs while avoiding forest fires and plagues and revitalizing the mountains, which are in decline," says De la Calle.

As detailed by the engineer, biomass can be agricultural (crop residues, straw or vine shoots when the vines are pruned), forestry (what is most used are pellets, agglomerates made with these remains, with quality certificates) or from waste from industrial processes, such as almond shells or olive pits (in Andalusia there are especially stoves that use these pits).

"The biomass that is not used is shredded and left in the forests to disappear.

," he says.

heat networks

Although the most widely used forest material is wood, biomass can also be processed into bioenergy for electricity, biomethane and biofuels.

Biomass material to produce energyIván Muñoz Martín

"

This is how past generations used to heat themselves and today a lot of firewood is still used for fireplaces, especially chips, but there are also pellet stoves and there are more and more heat networks These are networks installed in cities or small municipalities through which hot water pipes circulate that are produced in a boiler that consumes biomass, mainly forest chips," explains the engineer.

In our country there are around 450 heating networks in operation.

Among the pioneering municipalities in Spain are Cuéllar (Segovia) and Ulzama (Navarra), where they are used to heat their public buildings.

In Pamplona, ​​the neighborhood of Txandrea stands out and in Vitoria, the neighborhood of Coronación, where more and more residents are replacing their diesel boilers to connect to a network that consumes energy from biomass.

"In cities like Valladolid, the university or the Clinical Hospital work with heat networks, and there are municipalities like Aranda de Duero or provincial capitals like Soria where they are used more and more.

" says the engineer.

"The management of the mountains depends on the autonomies and in Spain there are autonomous communities with more possibilities of generating biomass for energy purposes. Castilla y León and Catalonia have made a strong commitment, and throughout the Cantabrian coast and Galicia there is great potential for its production," he says.

RECYCLED PAPER IN THE EDITORIAL UNIT NEWSPAPERS

In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 21 as the International Day of Forests with the aim of raising awareness in society about the importance of protecting these essential ecosystems to combat the effects of climate change.

Forests play a fundamental role in the eradication of poverty and the achievement of development goals agreed upon by the international community.

Taking advantage of the celebration of this day, Editorial Unit, committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), reminds readers that the newspapers El Mundo, Marca and Expansión are printed on recycled paper.

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