JAKARTA, Indonesia, Nov 30, (AP): A South Korean National Assembly member has called for a moratorium on wood pellet imports from Indonesia and an investigation into their environmental impacts after government data and satellite analysis linked the country's biomass imports to deforestation in Indonesia.

"We should stop imports of wood pellets … and it’s important for our government to investigate exactly what kinds of environmental destruction is occurring on the spot,” Moon Dae-Lim, a lawmaker with South Korea's main liberal opposition Democratic Party, said in recent written responses to questions from The Associated Press. "Identifying and correcting potential risks in supply chains and value chains is key to a sustainable project.” Biomass can come from organic material like plants, wood and waste, and many coal-fired power plants can be easily modified to burn it alongside coal to make energy.

As countries accelerate their energy transitions, demand for biomass is growing: The use of bioenergy has increased an average of about 3% per year between 2010 and 2022, the International Energy Agency said. Experts including the IEA say it’s important for that demand to happen in a sustainable way, such as using waste and crop residue rather than converting forest land to grow bioenergy crops.

In South Korea, bioenergy has grown to become the second-largest source of renewable energy and over 80% of its main raw material - energy-dense wood pellets - is dependent on imports, according to a policy report on the state audit authored by Moon and published in October. Data shows that a growing number of those wood pellets come from the vast tropical archipelago nation of Indonesia.

In 2023 the country was the third-largest source of wood pellet imports for South Korea behind Vietnam and Russia. Over 60% of biomass made from pristine natural forests destroyed for wood pellet production since 2021 were shipped to South Korea, AP found in an examination of satellite images, company records and Indonesian export data. In the same time frame, Indonesia's wood pellet exports to South Korea jumped from 50 tons to over 68,000 tons.