UK activists to picket EU biomass conf.

Environmental activists are set to picket the upcoming European Biomass to Power industry conference with a banner protest, due to be held in London on April 11 and 12. The two-day conference will bring together senior industry representatives as well as consultancies and investors in biofuel supply chains, including those based in Africa. The Biofuel Watch campaigners say the conference leads the likes of Steven’s Croft Power Station, which is the largest wood-burning power plant in Britain, to continue to feed on tapering forests across the world. Along with Stevens’ Croft plant, activists are also set to target two of “the biggest EU carbon emitters”, Vattenfall and RWE. The group said the former is destroying Liberian plantations to feed power stations in Germany and other European countries while the latter is trying to convert the fossil-fueled Tilbury Power Station in Essex to a biofuel-burning carbon-emitter in a bid to prevent the closure of the plant. Biofuel Watch suggested turning to biofuel can be even more dangerous than fossil fuels, including Britain’s favorite coal, as it leads to mass destruction of forests to provide input to power plants. “Investments planned and furthered at the conference will mean more deforestation and climate change, more land-grabbing and more air pollution for UK communities,” the campaign group said.