The European Union recently set an aggressive goal for 20 percent of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. They turned to the American South as the primary supplier of wood pellets, a renewable alternative to coal. But some environmentalists claim pellets are not a viable carbon-neutral resource and the pellet industry is fostering environmentally hazardous logging practices.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Bruce Siceloff, a reporter for the News and Observer; Bob Abt, forest economy professor at North Carolina State University; and Danna Smith, executive director of the Dogwood Alliance, about the swift growth of the wood pellet industry in North Carolina.