Carbon storage potential of harvested wood: summary and policy implications |
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Authors: | Ann Ingerson |
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Institution: | (1) The Wilderness Society, Craftsbury Common, VT 05827, USA |
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Abstract: | Within national greenhouse gas inventories, many countries now use widely-accepted methodologies to track carbon that continues
to be stored in wood products and landfills after its removal from the forest. Beyond simply tracking post-harvest wood carbon,
expansion of this pool has further been suggested as a potential climate change mitigation strategy. This paper summarizes
data on the fate of carbon through the wood processing chain and on greenhouse gas emissions generated by processing, transport,
use and disposal of wood. As a result of wood waste and decomposition, the carbon stored long-term in harvested wood products
may be a small proportion of that originally stored in the standing trees—across the United States approximately 1% may remain
in products in-use and 13% in landfills at 100 years post-harvest. Related processing and transport emissions may in some
cases approach the amount of CO2e stored in long-lived solid wood products. Policies that promote wood product carbon storage as a climate mitigation strategy
must assess full life-cycle impacts, address accounting uncertainties, and balance multiple public values derived from forests. |
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