A public protest is taking place this Friday meet near the Condong sugar mill, north of Murwillumbah, at the big fig tree on Tweed Valley Way on Friday, 22 October at 10am to object to the burning of trees and ‘forest waste’ and ‘biomass’ by Cape Byron Power to generate electricity at the Condong sugar mill.
‘The British-owned company proposes to expand its fuel blend to include construction waste such as CCA treated timber, plastic, foils, and even tyres. We do not want that smoke pumped into our atmosphere or washed into Tweed River!’ said a spokesperson for the Biomass Action Group (BAG).
Update from CPB:
‘The plant’s current consent allows the use of various wood‐based fuel, largely comprised of waste timber from sawmill offcuts, local weed removal that has no other economically beneficial use or wood and plant fibre from purpose grown crops. These will be largely replaced by recovered timber fuel. The power stations are 100 per cent compliant with State, Federal and United Nations guidelines for renewable energy generation.
The suggestion that we are expanding our fuel mix to include plastics, foils and tyres is patently false and misleading,’ said the CBP spokesperson.
Need new tech
Scott Sledge, President of the Northern Rivers Guardians (NRG) said, ‘We have come to a to a turning point in human history when we need to use new technologies other than burning things if we want a sustainable future.
‘A liveable planet is the first priority and everything else in secondary.’
Both local and Federal candidates have been invited to speak at the rally with only Mandy Noaln (Greens) and Nola Firth (Greens candidate for Tweed Shire) having confirmed their attendance at this point
Organisers say that ‘The Condong power plant burns wood which they describe as “waste”. This releases 50 per cent more carbon than coal, plus a raft of dangerous pollutants. Native forests remove carbon dioxide from the air more effectively than anything else on land; they do this best when they’re left to mature and grow old in peace.
‘Forest Biomass is our next big battle to avoid further climate crises being locked-in. Burning biomass already happens right across the north-east coast of NSW.’
The demonstration forms part of a global week of action demanding sensible decisions to stop climate change such as a ban on burning trees and other ‘waste’ says BAG representative, Shaunti Kieh.
‘We say CUT CARBON, NOT FORESTS. We need to be moving away from combustion and extractive-based energy sources. Biomass operators claim renewable energy subsidies for this, but burning forest ecosystems is not renewable. Forest biomass incentivises the clear-felling of entire forests, and fudges numbers to meet emissions targets.
‘The climate and biodiversity emergencies demand true solutions – keeping forests intact to draw down carbon and generate water supply, not trashing these vital life systems,’ she says.
‘There are so many other ways to supply our energy needs, proven technologies like sun, wind and wave energy?’
COVID regulation
COVID, public-health restrictions currently allow only 50 people to gather for an outdoor event. The organisers have a Covid-safe plan and have made arrangements so that more than 50 protestors can be accommodated in different areas. If public health authorities change the rules the organisers will update the plan.
♦ Cape Byron Power have been contacted for comment.
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