Renewable energy from wood and paper: technological and cultural implications

摘要

Renewable energy from biomass, especially from wood and paper, has great potential as a substitute for burning fossil fuels, the main agents of global warming. There are, however, strong economic, political and cultural constraints to achieving full potential. Baark and Jami- son's hypothesis that the developmental trajectopry of technological innovation will be influ- enced by the political and cultural frameworks has strong relevance in this context. It is shown in this paper that government environmental policies, which are strongly guided by public acceptability in many Western countries, seem to be in conflict with scientific arguments and evidence concerning the immediate need to address the world's major environmental problem of global warming.