Climate change mitigation effect of harvested wood products in regions of Japan

The forestry and forest-based sector play a significant role in climate change mitigation strategies and can contribute to the achievement of a climate-neutral economy. In this context, the ability of harvested wood products (HWP) to sequester carbon is of significant importance. The objective of this work is to make a projection of climate change mitigation potential of HWP, under different scenarios of wood utilization in Slovakia. This study builds on the comparison of different scenarios of industrial wood utilization till 2035 and presents the resulting impacts on the national carbon balance. The results suggest that the development of timber supplies after 2020 in Slovakia will be influenced, in particular, by the future changes in the age distribution and tree species composition as well as the extent of future accidental felling. Consequently, a predicted structure and availability of wood resources in Slovakia will be reflected in a higher share of the production of products with shorter life cycle and thus will negatively affect the carbon pool in HWP. By comparing the results of the four designed scenarios, it follows that the scenario with the greatest mitigation potential, is the one assuming the optimal use of wood assortments and limitation of industrial roundwood foreign trade.

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Effects of Wood Product Utilization on Climate Change Mitigation in South Korea

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13126737 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 6737

Author(s):

Eun-Kyung Jang ◽

Yeo-Chang Youn

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

South Korea ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Wood Products ◽

Carbon Accounting ◽

Tier 2 ◽

Harvested Wood Products ◽

Tier 3 ◽

Change Mitigation

Many countries, including South Korea, decided to suspend the inclusion of harvested wood products in their Nationally Determined Contributions, as part of the carbon inventory, in 2016. The inclusion of harvested wood products in the national greenhouse gases inventory must ensure the accuracy of carbon accounting and its conformity with the policy direction. The method used for harvested wood product carbon accounting can influence the accuracy of carbon account value, as well as policy direction based on greenhouse gas accounting. This research evaluated the utilization of domestic wood resources in South Korea in terms of carbon storage impacts from the perspective of the cascading use of wood products. The study also compared the two accounting methods (Tier 2 and Tier 3) of carbon storage for the period from 1970 to 2080, assuming the current pattern of wood resource utilization for the next sixty years. The results show that the current utilization of domestic wood resources is inefficient in terms of climate change mitigation. The analysis shows that there is a significant difference between the Tier 2 and Tier 3 methods in carbon storage effects, and the amount of harvested wood products carbon stock calculated by the Tier 2 method was found to be approximately double that of Tier 3. This result implies that there is a possibility of overestimating the carbon storage of harvested wood products when using the Tier 2 method in the case of net timber-importing countries, such as South Korea. The study can provide guidance for designing timber resource management from the perspective of the cascading use of wood products in order to contribute to sustainable development goals, including climate change mitigation.

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Under What Circumstances Do Wood Products from Native Forests Benefit Climate Change Mitigation?

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0139640 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. e0139640 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Heather Keith ◽

David Lindenmayer ◽

Andrew Macintosh ◽

Brendan Mackey

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Wood Products ◽

Native Forests ◽

Change Mitigation

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Wood product carbon substitution benefits: a critical review of assumptions

Carbon Balance and Management ◽

10.1186/s13021-021-00171-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Christina Howard ◽

Caren C. Dymond ◽

Verena C. Griess ◽

Darius Tolkien-Spurr ◽

G. Cornelis van Kooten

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Wood Products ◽

Carbon Accounting ◽

Life Cycle Assessments ◽

Modelling Framework ◽

Sophisticated Model ◽

Carbon Substitution ◽

Displacement Factor ◽

Change Mitigation

Abstract Background There are high estimates of the potential climate change mitigation opportunity of using wood products. A significant part of those estimates depends on long-lived wood products in the construction sector replacing concrete, steel, and other non-renewable goods. Often the climate change mitigation benefits of this substitution are presented and quantified in the form of displacement factors. A displacement factor is numerically quantified as the reduction in emissions achieved per unit of wood used, representing the efficiency of biomass in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. The substitution benefit for a given wood use scenario is then represented as the estimated change in emissions from baseline in a study’s modelling framework. The purpose of this review is to identify and assess the central economic and technical assumptions underlying forest carbon accounting and life cycle assessments that use displacement factors or similar simple methods. Main text Four assumptions in the way displacement factors are employed are analyzed: (1) changes in harvest or production rates will lead to a corresponding change in consumption of wood products, (2) wood building products are substitutable for concrete and steel, (3) the same mix of products could be produced from increased harvest rates, and (4) there are no market responses to increased wood use. Conclusions After outlining these assumptions, we conclude suggesting that many studies assessing forest management or products for climate change mitigation depend on a suite of assumptions that the literature either does not support or only partially supports. Therefore, we encourage the research community to develop a more sophisticated model of the building sectors and their products. In the meantime, recognizing these assumptions has allowed us to identify some structural, production, and policy-based changes to the construction industry that could help realize the climate change mitigation potential of wood products.

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Does Aiming for Long-Term Non-Decreasing Flow of Timber Secure Carbon Accumulation: A Lithuanian Forestry Case

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13052778 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 2778

Author(s):

Gintautas Mozgeris ◽

Vaiva Kazanavičiūtė ◽

Daiva Juknelienė

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Forest Management ◽

Carbon Balance ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Forest Resources ◽

Wood Products ◽

Carbon Accumulation ◽

Total Carbon ◽

Change Mitigation

Lithuanian forestry has long been shaped by the classical normal forest theory, aiming for even long-term flow of timber, and the aspiration to preserve domestic forest resources, leading to very conservative forest management. With radically changing forest management conditions, climate change mitigation efforts suggest increasing timber demands in the future. The main research question asked in this study addresses whether current forest management principles in Lithuania can secure non-decreasing long-term flow of timber and carbon accumulation. The development of national forest resources and forestry was simulated for the next century using the Kupolis decision support system and assuming that current forest management is continued under the condition of three scenarios, differing by climate change mitigation efforts. Potential development trends of key forest attributes were analysed and compared with projected carbon stock changes over time, incorporating major forest carbon pools—biomass, harvested wood products and emission savings due to energy and product substitution. The key finding was that the total carbon balance should remain positive in Lithuania during the next one hundred years; however, it might start to decrease after several decades, with steadily increasing harvesting and a reduced increase of forest productivity. Additionally, incorporating the harvested wood and CO2 emissions savings in carbon balance evaluations is essential.

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Tree planting has the potential to increase carbon sequestration capacity of forests in the United States

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2010840117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (40) ◽

pp. 24649-24651 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Grant M. Domke ◽

Sonja N. Oswalt ◽

Brian F. Walters ◽

Randall S. Morin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

United States ◽

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

The United States ◽

National Forest Inventory ◽

Wood Products ◽

Tree Planting ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Change Mitigation

Several initiatives have been proposed to mitigate forest loss and climate change through tree planting as well as maintaining and restoring forest ecosystems. These initiatives have both inspired and been inspired by global assessments of tree and forest attributes and their contributions to offset carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Here we use data from more than 130,000 national forest inventory plots to describe the contribution of nearly 1.4 trillion trees on forestland in the conterminous United States to mitigate CO2 emissions and the potential to enhance carbon sequestration capacity on productive forestland. Forests and harvested wood products uptake the equivalent of more than 14% of economy-wide CO2 emissions in the United States annually, and there is potential to increase carbon sequestration capacity by ∼20% (−187.7 million metric tons [MMT] CO2 ±9.1 MMT CO2) per year by fully stocking all understocked productive forestland. However, there are challenges and opportunities to be considered with tree planting. We provide context and estimates from the United States to inform assessments of the potential contributions of forests in climate change mitigation associated with tree planting.

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GHG displacement factors of harvested wood products: the myth of substitution

10.21203/rs.3.rs-26980/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Philippe LETURCQ

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Steady State ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Forest Carbon ◽

Wood Products ◽

Material Substitution ◽

Carbon Neutrality ◽

Time Horizons ◽

Change Mitigation

Abstract Abstract Background: A currently held idea is that substituting wood for fossil fuels and energy intensive materials reduces greenhouse gas emissions. This is supported by the values usually attributed to the displacement factors that normalise the emission reduction to the wood carbon mass (typically, 0.5 tC/tC for fossil fuel substitution, 2 tC/tC for building material substitution). These values are based on the “carbon neutrality” assumption of harvested wood, which is claimed valid as long as forests are sustainably managed, but holds true in static conditions only. Harvesting disturbs forest growth and wood carbon storage for a long term. Therefore, the carbon footprint of harvested wood and related displacement factors must be assessed as time-dependant quantities, and the effect of substitutions should be appreciated relatively to specific time horizons. In this study, the meaning, values and use of the displacement factors are reconsidered according to this new line of thinking. Results: When taking into account the forest carbon dynamics, the presumed values of the displacement factors under the carbon neutrality assumption are achieved only in steady-state conditions, a very long time after harvest. Shortly after harvest, and even for time horizons comparable with climatic deadlines, the transient values of these factors appear much less than the steady-state values, and may even be negative. This is especially the case for the substitution of wood for fossil fuels which first increases the carbon emission for the same energy released. An additional weakness of the ordinary concept of displacement lies in possible misevaluations of carbon benefits from substitution, especially when large sectors of wood products are concerned or when the market conditions are disregarded. Corrective measures are proposed for this. Conclusions: The use of inadequate constant values of displacement factors under the carbon neutrality assumption and the supposition that wood substitution for other fuels or materials is always possible and effective leads to overestimations of carbon benefits. These overestimations erroneously incite the increase in harvesting and wood utilisation, which may be counter-productive for climate change mitigation objectives, especially when wood is used as a fuel. Keywords: Forest carbon, Harvested wood products, Carbon accounting, Carbon neutrality, Sequestration parity, Energy and material substitution, Displacement factors, Climate change mitigation.

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