Interesting 60-Second Science about how the “Old Energy Source Wood Be New Alternative.” The money quote:
“If chopping down forests for fuel doesn’t sound like the greenest solution to our energy needs, the scientists note that we’d have to figure out how to manage our woodsheds sustainably, to avoid slashing and burning our way to a toasty home and a bare Earth. But trees are renewable. They’re cheaper than fossil fuels. And they provide more shade than offshore windmills.”
Indeed, “But I’m worried about the effect on global warming,” you may say.
According to the non-profit Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), biomass [e.g. wood] is not only a renewable energy source but a carbon neutral one as well, because the energy it contains comes from the sun. When plant matter is burned, it releases the sun’s energy originally captured through photosynthesis. “In this way, biomass functions as a sort of natural battery for storing solar energy,” reports UCS. As long as biomass is produced sustainably—with only as much grown as is used—the “battery” lasts indefinitely. [source: Scientific American, “Biomass: Can Renewable Power Grow on Trees?“]