Forth Energy green claims blown apart by American forestry groups

Forth Energy’s green claims for their proposed biomass plants have again come under fire after the full extent of a to-and-fro letter battle between expert American forestry groups and the company became clear.

Both sides have written to each other contesting each others claims, while copying in senior Ministers and civil servants from the Scottish Government. Environmentalists are claiming that the latest correspondence blows apart Forth Energy’s assertions to be environmentally friendly.

American groups are arguing that Forth Energy’s plans place North American forests under threat, will increase greenhouse gas emissions and contain misleading figures.

Stan Blackley, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “These expert American groups have hammered another nail into the coffin that is Forth Energy’s greenwash claims. The plans would place a huge demand on already stretched American forests and be an incredibly inefficient means of producing energy.

The promising thing is that the SNP manifesto commits itself to rejecting big biomass. The new Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing, must now see the overwhelming evidence against these proposals and reject them as soon as possible.”

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact:

Per Fischer, Press Office, Friends of the Earth Scotland t: 0131 243 2719

Notes to Editors

The latest letter takes Forth Energy’s arguments point by point, and can be downloaded here:

www.foe-scotland.org.uk/sites/www.foe-scotland.org.uk/files/Response_For…

Friends of the Earth Scotland is * Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation * An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland * Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 77 national member groups, and some 5,000 local activist groups – covering every continent. www.foe-scotland.org.uk