Forests are essential sources of energy. Clean, sustainable and safe; compatible with most soils and with the power to transform arid and scarce areas in green richness.

I believe that forests are, from a sustainability standpoint, an unpaired asset.

Today, with technological mastery, achieved through an extreme dedication of all those aimed at forestry activity, we are able to produce forests in places unfavorable to other activities, thereby providing a substantial improvement in purchasing power and quality of life for populations in regions that shared a limited horizon in recent years.

Now we can easily see the strong development of cities that once resented this lack of possibilities. This is possible, thanks to the forests in their surroundings that provide or will provide industrial development for timber, pulp, paper or charcoal-fueled steel works, among other purposes.

It is important to learn that there are two types of industries orbiting the forests; those, which create the forests and establish themselves after that, and those, which establish themselves in places where forests already exist.

What is correct to say is that in both cases what you see is job creation with social conditions improved as a whole and emphatic preservation of the environment, contrary to what some may argue.

In a professional context, I manage the cultivation of forests for charcoal production, which is the energy source for the production process of pig iron. This is aimed for the steel plants of the Vetorial group, and is conducted in a sustainable way.

Forests bring needed balance to the performance of the activity as the primary processing industry, which in turn are the basis for other industries, such as construction, automotive and many others, with a role of great social relevance.

According to the 2010 publication of the white paper “Siderurgia no Brasil,” released by Centro de Gestão e Estudos Estratégicos (CGEE), an organization linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCT), “Charcoal-fueled steel works is peculiar to the Brazilian steel industry.”

This publication demonstrates quite clearly the importance of forests as an energy source for environmentally sustainable steel industry. This aspect differentiates Brazil, providing the condition of world producer of pig iron and “aço verde” (green steel).

Currently, with the genetic improvement of eucalyptus forests, which is the result of extensive investment in research especially by the private sector and with results obtained over the years given the characteristic long cycle of forests, we have achieved substantial volumetric gains and, similarly, gains in contained energy per hectare forested.

Brazil has a strong aptitude for forestry with extensive areas available and in need of recovery, which is the result of the degradation suffered after many years of low-tech operation in several segments.

Now we need strong government support, so we can expand our vertically planted areas, seeking to replace the use of native wood for energy, which today is still considerable, in order to find self-sufficiency in planted forests; environmentally responsible, socially fair and economically sustainable.

Additionally and very important, though still in the final stages of development, from the gases generated in the carbonization process we have the possibility of generating electricity on an industrial scale, following the same principles of environmental, social and economic factors that guide the planting of forests and modern concepts of carbonization.

Finally, I will refer to data published by the research department of Esalq-USP, which report that three billion people in the world use native forests as energy source, and that Brazil is number three in this ranking, behind only China and India, having wood as its fourth energy source after oil, sugar cane and water.

Thus we can easily understand, and once again say conclusively that, with proper support from the Federal Government we will be able to leverage and lead the planting and use of energy forests before the world, thus reaping solid benefits to society.

Source: Revista Opiniões