Criticism of planned EU directives on renewable energy and forest use

At a press conference on Monday, Governor Thomas Stelzer and Minister for Agriculture Michaela Langer-Weninger sharply criticized the planned EU directives on forest and wood use. Stelzer and Langer-Weninger are particularly upset about the fact that ten percent of the forest area has been put out of use and that wood is classified as an unsustainable energy source.

According to Langer-Weninger, a ten percent reduction in the average amount of wood felled, as planned by the EU, would jeopardize 26,000 of the 70,000 jobs associated with the wood and forestry industry in Upper Austria alone. The guideline is also incomprehensible, since 13,000 solid cubic meters of wood grow back every day in Upper Austria and therefore more than is used.

Stelzer and Langer-Weninger are also critical of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, according to which energy production from wood would be classified as unsustainable. According to Stelzer, the simultaneous classification of nuclear power as a climate-neutral form of energy is “incomprehensible”.

“Common sense tells you that energy from wood is more sustainable than from nuclear power – the EU is on the wrong track here,” says Stelzer. Because of its CO2 storage capacity, wood makes a significant contribution to combating climate change.