PAPER making! FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF PAPER TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL ® FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF PAPER T Volume 9, Number 3, 2023
A life cycle and product type based estimator for quantifying the carbon stored in wood products XINYUAN WEI 1,2 , JIANHENG ZHAO 2,3 , DANIEL J. HAYES 3 , ADAM DAIGNEAULT 3 & HE ZHU 4 Background Timber harvesting and industrial wood processing laterally transfer the carbon stored in forest sectors to wood products creating a wood products carbon pool. The carbon stored in wood products is allocated to end-use wood products (e.g., paper, furniture), landfill, and charcoal. Wood products can store substantial amounts of carbon and contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse effects. Therefore, accurate accounts for the size of wood products carbon pools for different regions are essential to estimating the land- atmosphere carbon exchange by using the bottom-up approach of carbon stock change. Results To quantify the carbon stored in wood products, we developed a state-of-the-art estimator (Wood Products Carbon Storage Estimator, WPsCS Estimator) that includes the wood products disposal, recycling, and waste wood decomposition processes. The wood products carbon pool in this estimator has three subpools: (1) end-use wood products, (2) landfill, and (3) charcoal carbon. In addition, it has a user-friendly interface, which can be used to easily parameterize and calibrate an estimation. To evaluate its performance, we applied this estimator to account for the carbon stored in wood products made from the timber harvested in Maine, USA, and the carbon storage of wood products consumed in the United States. Conclusion The WPsCS Estimator can efficiently and easily quantify the carbon stored in harvested wood products for a given region over a specific period, which was demonstrated with two illustrative examples. In addition, WPsCS Estimator has a user-friendly interface, and all parameters can be easily modified. Contact information: 1 Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA. 2 Center for Research on Sustainable Forests, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA. 3 School of Forest Resources, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA. 4 Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Carbon Balance and Management (2023) 18:1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-022-00220-y Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
The Paper Industry Technical Association (PITA) is an independent organisation which operates for the general benefit of its members – both individual and corporate – dedicated to promoting and improving the technical and scientific knowledge of those working in the UK pulp and paper industry. Formed in 1960, it serves the Industry, both manufacturers and suppliers, by providing a forum for members to meet and network; it organises visits, conferences and training seminars that cover all aspects of papermaking science. It also publishes the prestigious journal Paper Technology International ® and the PITA Annual Review , both sent free to members, and a range of other technical publications which include conference proceedings and the acclaimed Essential Guide to Aqueous Coating .
Article 7 – LCA of Wood Products
Page 1 of 11
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker