Carbon debt from harvest of woody biomass

How it affects bioenergy from New Zealand's plantation forests.

The sustainability credentials of all forms of energy come under scrutiny at some stage.  This includes the use of woody biomass for providing heat, electricity and liquid fuels.  In the last few years there has been some commentary, mostly coming from Europe, claiming that woody biomass derived from forests takes many decades to pay back the carbon debt (the CO2-e released) when the wood or its derivatives are combusted.  This view depends entirely on the assumptions used in the calculations and in many cases these are not applicable to New Zealand's situation.