“Sustainable” energy company caught lying about wood sourcing
Despite claims to combat global warming by only using sustainably sourced wood, Warmtebedrijf Ede imported tree trunks from northern Scotland by ship to the Netherlands. The shipment came from much further than the energy company claims to source its wood for heating people’s homes, and was imported by a company that doesn’t have the sustainability certificate Warmtebedrijf Ede claims to adhere to, Omroep Gelderland discovered.
The shipments date from 2022. According to Omroep Gelderland, an 88-meter-long freighter made about 75 trips between the Scottish fishing village of Fraserburgh and Moerdijk Shipyard, each time loaded with over 10,000 tree trunks. It ultimately transported 7,000 cubic meters of biomass to Hall near Eerbeek, where the trunks were turned into wood chips and stored by Energy voor Elkaar, a company that owns several biomass power plants. In the following months, the wood chips were moved by truck to power plants in Ede, Amersfoort, and Almere, where they were incinerated to create hot water to heat homes and businesses.
Warmtebedrijf Ede explicitly claims to only use sustainably sourced wood. According to the company’s 2022 sustainability report, it only sourced wood from a radius of less than 150 kilometers around Ede. Further than that is undesirable from a sustainability perspective. The report does not list the Scottish fishing village, approximately 800 kilometers away from Ede as the crow flies, as a source.
In 2022, Omroep Gelderland suspected that the company was shipping in trees, but when asked, Warmtebedrijf Ede vehemently denied it. The company said it had imported wood from abroad, but it came from just across the border in Germany.
An employee of Warmtebedrijf Ede told Omroep Gelderland that it could be possible that the wood from Scotland couldn’t be traced. “When we buy something from a supplier, it simply comes from a pile of trees. We have no insight into where the trees were actually located.” It is unclear how that aligns with the claim that none of the trees used came from more than 150 kilometers away.
The company’s 2022 sustainability report also states that “for generating green heat, we use sustainable raw materials, supplied under the Better Biomass Certificate. All our suppliers hold this certificate.” The Better Biomass Certificate indicates an annual inspection to ensure the company complies with sustainability requirements for harvesting wood.
Omroep Gelderland obtained the bill of landing for the freighter used to ship the trees from Scotland. It showed how much wood was delivered, who delivered it, and the name of the Dutch company that brought the wood to the Netherlands - Teredo from Boxtel.
Teredo does not have a Better Biomass Certificate, the owner of the company confirmed. “I’m not keen on questions about certifications, because I think we’ll be crucified,” he told the broadcaster in a telephone conversation. He also said that he couldn’t remember the delivery in Moerdijk, immediately adding that he only acted as an intermediary and refusing to answer further questions.
