Energy forestry Energy forestry Energy forestry is a form of forestry in which a fast-growing species of tree or woody shrub is grown specifically to provide biomass or biofuel for heating or power generation. The two forms of energy forestry are short rotation coppice and short rotation forestry: The main advantage of using "grown fuels", as opposed to fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil, is that while they are growing they absorb the near-equivalent in carbon dioxide (an important greenhouse gas) to that which is later released in their burning. In comparison, burning fossil fuels increases atmospheric carbon unsustainably,
Coal maximum. As of 2018 global peak coal consumption is predicted to occur by the early 2020s at the latest. Coal-fired generation puts out about twice the amount of carbon dioxide—around a tonne for every megawatt hour generated—than electricity generated by burning natural gas at 500 kg of greenhouse gas per megawatt hour. In addition to generating electricity, natural gas is also popular in some countries for heating and as an automotive fuel. The use of coal in the United Kingdom declined as a result of the development of North Sea oil and the subsequent dash for gas during the 1990s.