This morning, Enviva, the world’s largest manufacturer of wood pellets, announced doubts about its survival. They shared this on their quarterly call with shareholders. The company cited:

• 3rd quarter losses of almost $100M
• bad long-term contracts
• operational challenges

They are projecting even greater losses in the 4th quarter.

Both the financial outlook and the company’s future are bleak.

Enviva CEO Thomas Meth has stepped down. He’s been replaced by the company’s brand new CFO. The company’s stock prices are now below $1. That’s down from a high of $91 in April of 2022.

Enviva built a business model based on environmental injustice, forest destruction, and greenwashing. We’ve spent a decade highlighting Enviva’s disastrous impacts. The truth has finally caught up with them. Now our forests and communities can breathe a sigh of relief.

“Our focus continues to be supporting the communities this company is failing,” said Danna Smith, Executive Director at Dogwood Alliance. Now more than ever we need to unite with these communities. Together we can move to a more regenerative economy. One that does not depend on forest destruction and pollution. Enviva cannot cut and run. They must deal with the damage they have done to our communities’ health and vibrancy.

The Our Forests Aren’t Fuel campaign has been raising concerns about the fragility of the biomass industry for 10 years. The industry operates on a model of:

• greenwashing
• bad climate science
• large-scale clearcutting
• cutting corners on community protections

Communities and campaigners have raised scrutiny on Enviva and its bad practices.

Together, we made the company take responsibility for its pollution and environmental injustices. We exposed their greenwashing. That lead to lawsuits and higher legal costs for Enviva. We have delayed their expansions. We have diminished their production. All through constant pressure and scrutiny of regulatory processes. We made them invest in air quality improvements, which they should have done from the start.

Last year, Enviva announced they will expand production across the US South. Organizations, community leaders, and elected officials across the globe have been calling for an end to this expansion. From this recent news, it looks like the voices for justice and forest protection have been heard.

Smith concluded:

“Enviva is looking for a bailout now. They’ve applied for IRA subsidies from the Department of Energy for clean energy production. Yet, there is not much hope for government bailouts in the US or Europe. And those subsidies will not be enough to save them. The Biden Administration should not grant tax-breaks and subsidies for industrial scale biomass. They should let this industry fade away.”