scholarly journals The Missing Limb: Including Impacts of Biomass Extraction on Forest Carbon Stocks in GHG Balances of Wood Use

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horst Fehrenbach ◽  
Mascha Bischoff ◽  
Hannes Böttcher ◽  
Judith Reise ◽  
Klaus Josef Hennenberg
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Ghg Mitigation ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
Energy Wood ◽  
Global Carbon

The global carbon neutrality challenge places a spotlight on forests as carbon sinks. However, greenhouse gas (GHG) balances of wood for material and energy use often reveal GHG emission savings in comparison with a non-wood reference. Is it thus better to increase wood production and use, or to conserve and expand the carbon stock in forests? GHG balances of wood products mostly ignore the dynamics of carbon storage in forests, which can be expressed as the carbon storage balance in forests (CSBF). For Germany, a CSBF of 0.25 to 1.15 t CO2/m³ wood can be assumed. When the CSBF is integrated into the GHG balance, GHG mitigation substantially deteriorates and wood products may even turn into a GHG source, e.g. in the case of energy wood. Here, building up the forest carbon sink would be the better option. We conclude that it is vital to include the CSBF in GHG balances of wood products if the wood is extracted from forests. Only then can GHG balances provide political decision-makers and stakeholders in the wood sector with a complete picture of GHG emissions.

scholarly journals Greenhouse Gas Pollution Based on Energy use and its Mitigation Potential in the City of Surakarta, Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Prabang Setyono ◽  
Widhi Himawan ◽  
Cynthia Permata Sari ◽  
Totok Gunawan ◽  
Sigit Heru Murti
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Vegetation Density ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
The City

Considered as a trigger of climate change, greenhouse gas (GHG) is a global environmental issue. The City of Surakarta in Indonesia consists mainly of urban areas with high intensities of anthropogenic fossil energy consumption and, potentially, GHG emission. It is topographically a basin area and most likely prompts a Thermal Inversion, creating a risk of accumulation and entrapment of air pollutants or GHGs at low altitudes. Vegetation has been reported to mitigate the rate of increase in emissions because it acts as a natural carbon sink. This study aimed to mitigate the GHG emissions from energy consumption in Surakarta and formulate recommendations for control. It commenced with calculating the emission factors based on the IPCC formula and determining the key categories using the Level Assessment approach. It also involved computing the vegetation density according to the NDVI values of the interpretation of Sentinel 2A imagery. The estimation results showed that in 2018, the emission loads from the energy consumption in Surakarta reached 1,217,385.05 (tons of CO2e). The key categories of these emissions were electricity consumption, transportation on highways, and the domestic sector, with transportation on highways being the top priority. These loads have exceeded the local carrying capacity because they create an imbalance between emission and natural GHG sequestration by vegetations.

scholarly journals Toward a Low-Carbon Transport Sector in Mexico

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge M. Islas-Samperio ◽  
Fabio Manzini ◽  
Genice K. Grande-Acosta
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Transport Sector ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Net Benefit ◽  
Ghg Mitigation

Considering that the world transport sector is the second largest contributor of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to energy use and the least decarbonized sector, it is highly recommended that all countries implement ambitious public policies to decarbonize this sector. In Mexico the transport sector generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, in 2014 it contributed with 31.3% of net emissions. Two original scenarios for the Mexican transport sector, a no-policy baseline scenario (BLS) and a low carbon scenario (LCS) were constructed. In the LCS were applied 21 GHG mitigation measures, which far exceeds the proposals for reducing transport sector GHG emissions that Mexico submitted in its National Determined Contributions (NDC). As a result, the proposed LCS describes a sector transformation path characterized by structural changes in freight and passenger mobility, new motor technologies for mobility, introduction of biofuels, price signals, transportation practices and regulations, as well as urban planning strategies, which altogether achieve an accumulated reduction of 3166 MtCO2e in a 25 year period, producing a global net benefit of 240,772 MUSD and a GHG emissions’ reduction of 56% in 2035 in relation to the BLS.

scholarly journals Can biofuels be a solution to climate change? The implications of land use change-related emissions for policy

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhu Khanna ◽  
Christine L. Crago ◽  
Mairi Black
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Payback Period ◽  
Sustainable Land Use ◽  
Ghg Mitigation ◽  
Modelling Assumptions ◽  
Global Carbon

Biofuels have gained increasing attention as an alternative to fossil fuels for several reasons, one of which is their potential to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector. Recent studies have questioned the validity of claims about the potential of biofuels to reduce GHG emissions relative to the liquid fossil fuels they are replacing when emissions owing to direct (DLUC) and indirect land use changes (ILUC) that accompany biofuels are included in the life cycle GHG intensity of biofuels. Studies estimate that the GHG emissions released from ILUC could more than offset the direct GHG savings by producing biofuels and replacing liquid fossil fuels and create a ‘carbon debt’ with a long payback period. The estimates of this payback period, however, vary widely across biofuels from different feedstocks and even for a single biofuel across different modelling assumptions. In the case of corn ethanol, this payback period is found to range from 15 to 200 years. We discuss the challenges in estimating the ILUC effect of a biofuel and differences across biofuels, and its sensitivity to the assumptions and policy scenarios considered by different economic models. We also discuss the implications of ILUC for designing policies that promote biofuels and seek to reduce GHG emissions. In a first-best setting, a global carbon tax is needed to set both DLUC and ILUC emissions to their optimal levels. However, it is unclear whether unilateral GHG mitigation policies, even if they penalize the ILUC-related emissions, would increase social welfare and lead to optimal emission levels. In the absence of a global carbon tax, incentivizing sustainable land use practices through certification standards, government regulations and market-based pressures may be a viable option for reducing ILUC.

scholarly journals Forest Carbon Sink Evaluation – An Important Contribution for Carbon Neutrality

2021 ◽  
Vol 811 (1) ◽  
pp. 012009
Author(s):  
Keren Chen ◽  
Qiyuan Cai ◽  
Nan Zheng ◽  
Yinan Li ◽  
Changyong Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Carbon Neutrality

scholarly journals Net carbon sink of China was overestimated by more than 35%

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaochao Du ◽  
Xiaoyong Bai ◽  
yangbing Li ◽  
Qiu Tan ◽  
Cuiwei Zhao Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Reactive Carbon ◽  
Source Sink ◽  
Global Carbon ◽  
Net Carbon Sink

Abstract As a carbon source/sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the net regional carbon budget (NRCB) of terrestrial ecosystems is very important to effect global warming, especially China with the largest emissions at present. However, the carbon consumption is difficult to measure accurately, which is caused by the emissions of CH4 and CO, the utilization of agriculture, forestry and grass, and the emissions from rivers and other physical processes, such as forest fires. Therefore, the spatial patterns and driving factors of NRCB are not clear. Here, we used multi-source data to estimate the NRCB of 31 provincial administrative divisions of China and to develop NRCB datasets from 2000 to 2018. We found that the average of NRCB was 669 TgC yr−1, and it significantly decreased at a rate of 2.56 TgC yr−1. The relative contribution rates of fluxes of emissions from anthropogenic (FEAD), reactive carbon and creature ingestion (FERCCI), autotrophic respiration (Ra), heterotrophic respiration (Rh) and natural disturbances (FEND) were 35.17%, 26.09%, 19.68%, 17.38% and 1.68% respectively. In addition, NRCB datasets of the different administrative regions of China were mapped. These datasets will provide support for China's carbon neutrality and the study of the global carbon cycle.

scholarly journals Decreased water limitation under elevated CO2 amplifies potential for forest carbon sinks

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (23) ◽  
pp. 7213-7218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline E. Farrior ◽  
Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe ◽  
Ray Dybzinski ◽  
Simon A. Levin ◽  
Stephen W. Pacala
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Carbon Allocation ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Forest Carbon Storage ◽  
And Storage ◽  
Global Carbon ◽  
Rainfall Regimes

Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and changing rainfall regimes are creating novel environments for plant communities around the world. The resulting changes in plant productivity and allocation among tissues will have significant impacts on forest carbon storage and the global carbon cycle, yet these effects may depend on mechanisms not included in global models. Here we focus on the role of individual-level competition for water and light in forest carbon allocation and storage across rainfall regimes. We find that the complexity of plant responses to rainfall regimes in experiments can be explained by individual-based competition for water and light within a continuously varying soil moisture environment. Further, we find that elevated CO2 leads to large amplifications of carbon storage when it alleviates competition for water by incentivizing competitive plants to divert carbon from short-lived fine roots to long-lived woody biomass. Overall, we find that plant dependence on rainfall regimes and plant responses to added CO2 are complex, but understandable. The insights developed here will serve as an important foundation as we work to predict the responses of plants to the full, multidimensional reality of climate change, which involves not only changes in rainfall and CO2 but also changes in temperature, nutrient availability, and disturbance rates, among others.

scholarly journals On the trade-offs and synergies between forest carbon sequestration and substitution

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sampo Soimakallio ◽  
Tuomo Kalliokoski ◽  
Aleksi Lehtonen ◽  
Olli Salminen
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
National Level ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Carbon Equivalent ◽  
Harvested Wood Products ◽  
Trade Offs

AbstractForest biomass can be used in two different ways to limit the growth of the atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations: (1) to provide negative emissions through sequestration of carbon into forests and harvested wood products or (2) to avoid GHG emissions through substitution of non-renewable raw materials with wood. We study the trade-offs and synergies between these strategies using three different Finnish national-level forest scenarios between 2015 and 2044 as examples. We demonstrate how GHG emissions change when wood harvest rates are increased. We take into account CO2 and other greenhouse gas flows in the forest, the decay rate of harvested wood products and fossil-based CO2 emissions that can be avoided by substituting alternative materials with wood derived from increased harvests. We considered uncertainties of key parameters by using stochastic simulation. According to our results, an increase in harvest rates in Finland increased the total net GHG flow to the atmosphere virtually certainly or very likely, given the uncertainties and time frame considered. This was because the increased biomass-based CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere together with decreased carbon sequestration into the forest were very likely higher than the avoided fossil-based CO2 emissions. The reverse of this conclusion would require that compared to what was studied in this paper, the share of long-living wood products in the product mix would be higher, carbon dioxide from bioenergy production would be captured and stored, and reduction in forest carbon equivalent net sink due to wood harvesting would be minimized.

scholarly journals The role of net ecosystem productivity and of inventories in climate change research: the need for “net ecosystem productivity with harvest”, NEPH

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. D. Schulze ◽  
R. Valentini ◽  
O. Bouriaud
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Net Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Climate Change Research ◽  
Main Requirement ◽  
Flux Measurements ◽  
Land Surfaces ◽  
Terrestrial Carbon Sink ◽  
Global Carbon

Abstract Background There is an urgent need for quantifying the terrestrial carbon sink in the context of global carbon emissions. However, neither the flux measurements, nor the national wood balances fulfil this purpose. In this discussion article we point at various shortcomings and necessary improvements of these approaches in order to achieve a true quantification of the carbon exchange of land surfaces. Results We discuss the necessity of incorporating all lateral fluxes, but mainly the export of biomass by harvest, into the flux balance and to recognize feedbacks between management and fluxes to make flux measurements compatible with inventories. At the same time, we discuss the necessity that national reports of wood use need to fully recognize the use of wood for energy use. Both approaches of establishing an ecosystem carbon balance, fluxes and inventories, have shortcomings. Conclusions Including harvest and feedbacks by management appears to be the main requirement for the flux approach. A better quantification of wood use for bioenergy seems a real need for integrating the national wood balances into the global carbon cycle.

scholarly journals Carbon storage in old-growth forests of the Mid-Atlantic: toward better understanding the eastern forest carbon sink

Ecology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. McGarvey ◽  
Jonathan R. Thompson ◽  
Howard E. Epstein ◽  
Herman H. Shugart
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forests

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

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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