37
User’’s Guide
This document is intended to assist the user of the Forest Industry Carbon Assessment Tool
(FICAT) in applying the tool (also sometimes called a model in this guide). The details on
how the model works are contained in the documentation report. Much of the following
material is from the opening screens that the user sees when using the model. Additional text
is included, however, to guide the user in addressing a number of questions that may arise
when applying the model to specific situations.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
2
Starting to use FICAT
4
Land-Based Carbon
5
Introduction
5
The calculation framework
5
Getting Started
5
Data entry
7
Results
8
Common situations requiring additional explanation
Carbon in Products
11
Introduction
11
Calculation framework
11
Getting Started
12
Data entry
12
Results
14
Common situations requiring additional explanation
Emissions – Manufacturing
18
Introduction
18
Calculation Framework
18
Getting started
18
Combustion Sources
18
Imports/Exports of Greenhouse Gases
20
Common situations requiring additional explanation
Emissions – Wood Production
22
Introduction
22
Calculation Framework
22
Getting started
22
Data entry
22
Results
23
Emissions – Other Raw Materials/Fuels
24
Introduction
24
9
14
21
Calculation Framework
24
Data entry
24
Results
24
Common situations requiring additional explanation
24
Emissions – Purchased Electricity/Steam/Heat
26
Introduction
26
Calculation Framework
26
Getting Started
26
Data entry
28
Results
28
Common situations requiring additional explanation
28
Emissions – Transportation
30
Introduction
30
Calculation Framework
30
Getting Started
30
Data entry
30
Results
30
Common situations requiring additional explanation
31
Emissions – Product Use
32
Introduction
32
Calculation Framework
32
Getting Started
32
Data entry
32
Results
32
Emissions – End-of-Live
33
Introduction
33
Calculation Framework
33
Getting Started
33
Data entry
33
Results
33
Common situations requiring additional explanation
33
Emissions – Avoided
35
Introduction
35
Avoided emissions associated with recycling
35
Avoided emissions associated with burning used products
35
Avoided emissions associated with exports of electricity and steam
Additional avoided emissions
36
Common situations requiring additional explanation
37
36
Starting to use FICAT
Once in the program, you will find yourself at the Welcome screen. To start the program,
click on “File” at the top left of the screen, choose “New Project,” and give your project a
name. If you were previously working on a project, you can “Open Project.” Or, if you want
to use a file created on a different copy of the model, you “import” the file from where it is
located on your computer. You will then be able to move into the ten elements of the
assessment. To begin, click on “1. Land Based Carbon” on the left-hand menu. [Note: If some
of the text appears to run off of the screen or under other features on the screen, try reducing
your screen resolution.]
The Program has thirteen levels, shown below. The middle ten represent the ten elements of
the assessment and are described in introduction/information window as you enter each
element. It is highly recommended that you use the model by addressing the elements in
order – 1 through 10. This is because several of the higher-number elements require data
from earlier elements.
The thirteen levels of the FICAT Model
Welcome
1.
Land Based Carbon
2.
Carbon in Products
3.
Emissions - Manufacturing
4.
Emissions – Wood Production
5.
Emissions – Other Raw Material/Fuels
6.
Emissions – Electricity, Steam and Heat
7.
Emissions-Transportation
8.
Emissions - Product Use
9.
Emissions - End-of-Life
10.
Emissions - Avoided
Summary
Uncertainty
When you begin each element, to advance beyond the information window, click on “Next” at
the bottom of the screen. You can return to the information window by clicking on “Help/
Information” at the top of the subsequent windows.
[User tip: When entering a value in a cell, FICAT often responds better to hitting the “tab”
key than it does to hitting the “enter” key.]
[Another user tip: The column width in many of the windows can be adjusted by dragging the
edge of the column in the column header.]
The program automatically stores all data you have entered and saved. The project
information can be exported into files that can be imported by others having the FICAT
Model software. The import/export commands are accessed by clicking on “File” at the upper
left of the screen.
Each element has a text box for the user to use in describing the calculations in each element.
The text box is accessed by clicking on “notes” in the upper right hand corner of the data
entry windows in each element. The text entered in these boxes appears verbatim in the
report generated by FICAT. The user must use these notes boxes. It is not possible to
generate a report in FICAT unless there is something in all of the “notes” boxes.
Element 1 - Land-Based Carbon
Introduction
This element of FICAT will help you estimate the effects of your project on forest ecosystem
carbon and other land-based carbon stocks. Except in situations where companies have
generated site-specific carbon data for use in FICAT, the estimates will be subject to
considerable uncertainty and will be useful primarily for screening projects to identify
potentially important forest carbon-related effects. The calculations are based on IPCC
default tables for Tier 1 estimates (the least accurate allowed by IPCC) and may be
inappropriate for many circumstances. The model is designed to allow the user to modify
many of the defaults in the model and the user is encouraged to do so wherever more
appropriate values are available.
At the end of this section, we provide guidance on how you can address several common
situations you may encounter where the Land-based carbon input screens do not seem
appropriate for your circumstances.
The calculation framework
FICAT assists in calculating the carbon stocks on the land in its pre-project condition and
post-project conditions. The pre-project and post-project conditions are idealized, steady-state
representations. For instance, if the project involves establishing a new plantation forest, the
post-project condition will be the long-term average biomass stocks across the entire
plantation, a condition reasonably represented by the average carbon stocks over a rotation.
FICAT converts the stock change estimates into annual emissions or sequestration rates by
dividing by the expected project life. The project life is the time over which it is reasonable to
spread the impacts on land-based carbon. For instance, if a newly established plantation is
expected to remain a plantation for at least 50 years due to the investment required, it might
be reasonable to spread the carbon –related impacts of plantation establishment over 50
years. Alternatively, it might be reasonable to spread the uptake only across as many years as
it took for the plantations to become fully established since this option is closest to what the
atmosphere would see. Another option would be to use a 100-year period to be consistent
with the time frame used to characterize the carbon in products.
The tool includes carbon stocks in above and below ground biomass, litter and soil carbon.
The forest carbon calculations in FICAT are built around the default tables and calculation
methods in IPCC’s 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. In most cases,
IPCC’s Tier 1 methods and data have been used because IPCC’s higher tier methods require
data that may not be readily available to FICAT users.
Getting Started
To use the tool, the user must divide the affected land into areas and give each area a unique
name. The areas should be defined so as to reflect unique sets of before-after conditions. In
other words, the land in each named area undergoes the same transition, starting from the
same pre-project condition and ending in the same post-project condition. For completeness,
it is recommended that you also include forest areas that you own but are not affected by the
project. This will be the case, for instance, for sustainably managed forests which are
managed for wood production and are the same in the pre-project and post-project
conditions. In addition, you should include lands that you do not own if they experience
carbon-related impacts as a result of the project.
The following example illustrates how a land based can be divided into areas.
Consider a project that affects 10,000 hectares. Before the project, the land area may
have consisted of 6,000 hectares of annual cropland and 4,000 hectares of natural
forest. The 6,000 hectares of annual cropland may be situated on two different types
of soils, with 1,000 being on sandy soil and 5,000 being on clay soil. The natural
forest may consist to two distinct regions – a 1,500 hectare region dominated by
younger trees as a result of a natural disturbance (e.g. fire) and a 2,500 hectare region
dominated by older trees.
In the post-project condition, the 5,000 hectares of former cropland on clay soil has
been converted to pine plantations while the remaining 5,000 hectares of cropland and
natural forest has been converted to eucalyptus plantations.
In this example the unique areas, and the names assigned to them, are as follows.
Name
Area 1
Area 2
Area 3
Area 4
Hectares Pre-project condition
Post-project condition
5,000
Annual cropland on clay soil Pine plantations on clay soil
1,000
Annual cropland on sandy Eucalyptus plantations on sandy soil
soil
2,500
Older natural forest
Eucalyptus plantations
1,500
Younger natural forest
Eucalyptus plantations
In general, the conditions that the user needs to consider in dividing the land into areas are the
following.
• The general climatic conditions
• Whether the land is in forest, cropland, grassland or settlements
• The type of vegetation growing (e.g. forest type, crop type)
• The soil type (e.g. clay, sandy, organic)
Before deciding how to divide the land into areas, the user may find it helpful to start a
“practice project” and enter several “dummy” areas to better understand the parameters that
must be specified to characterize an individual area.
Land that is directly affected by the project should be included whether you own the land or
not. For instance, if the project will require local land owners to begin using previously
unmanaged forest for wood production, attempts should be made to describe the pre-project
and post-project conditions of these forests.
Data entry
Before beginning, click on “Notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in
sentence form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the
calculations in this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
If you are beginning data entry for a new project, after you click on “next” from the
introduction screen, you will be taken to a data entry module with three screens. If you
choose instead to open a previously entered project, you will be taken to the “Summary”
screen.
The data entry screens are accessed via tabs labeled “General Information”, “Land Use
Information”, and “Pools and Parameters”. For each separate named area, all three tabs must
be completed. In some places, you will need to enter text or a numeric value. In other places
you will select from choices presented to you in drop-down lists, taken from IPCC’s 2006
guidelines. Where the lists do not include exact matches for your project, select the option
that best matches your project’s expected carbon impact.
At the bottom of many screens is “Help” text providing explanations for specific parameters.
When you click on a parameter, the explanation (where available) will appear in this “Help”
window. On the right hand side is a running summary of the information you have entered.
On the “General Information” tab, you will enter the name you have given the area for which
you are entering information, its size in hectares and the project life. Drop-down lists are then
used to indicate what general type of land cover is involved and to describe the general region
and climate. Choose the best possible matches for your situation. Unless a data entry window
or drop down screen is deactivated, you must enter/select a value. When you have finished,
click “next.”
This will take you to the “Land Use Information” screen where you will continue entering
data. Again, choose the best possible matches for your situation, and unless a data entry
window or drop down screen is deactivated, you must enter/select a value. [Note: The preand post-project general soil types must match – i.e. both must be mineral soils or both must
be organic soils.] When you are finished with this screen, again click “next.”
This will bring you to the “Pools and Parameters” screen. This screen shows the carbonrelated parameter values associated with your selections based on IPCC default values. The
left-hand column names the parameter and, where available, shows the average and range for
that parameter from IPCC. The “current value” column shows the IPCC default value. If you
do not want to use the IPCC default value, you can change the values in the “enter new value”
column. The values in the “enter new value” column are those that are used in the
calculations. To begin, these are the IPCC defaults but they can be changed by entering a
different number directly in the cell. It is recommended that you also enter a short description
of the “basis for value” for your selection (e.g you might explain that the above-ground
biomass value is from a growth and yield model or you might simply explain that you used
the IPCC default). This information is not used in the calculations but may be helpful later on
in documenting what you have done.
The bottom line of the pools and parameters page shows the total land based carbon in tonnes
per hectare except when the user has selected drained or undrained organic soils (e.g. peat
and muck) from the drop down menu on the land use information screen. For organic soils,
the total shown on the pools and parameters page does not include soil carbon because IPCC
does not characterize organic soils in terms of carbon stocks per hectare but in terms of an
emission rate per hectare for drained organic soils. (FICAT uses the simplifying assumption
that the emission factor is zero for undrained organic soils.) When the user selects organic
soils, FICAT uses the appropriate emission factor in subsequent calculations even though the
total shown on the pools and parameters page does not include soil carbon for organic soils.
After all of the values in the “enter new value” column are those that you want to use in the
calculations for the specified area, click “Save.” This will save the data, perform the
calculations and take you to a “Summary” screen. On the summary screen you will see, for
each area that has been entered into the project file, the general description of the area in the
pre-project and post-project conditions and, further down the screen, the results of the
calculations in terms of carbon and CO2 emissions per year in the pre-project and post-project
conditions. You will note that, after you first create and save an area, the model assigns the
same values to the pre-project and post-project condition. To modify one of these, double
click on the appropriate line in this summary screen. This will take you back to the data entry
screens for the pre- or post-project condition you selected.
To add a new area, click on “Area/new” at the top of the Summary screen. This will return
you to a blank data entry module.
Results
After you have “saved” the values in the “pools and parameters” screen, you are taken to a
summary table. The top of the table summarizes the individual pre- and post-project land
areas. To edit any of these, double click on the row of interest.
At the bottom of the screen are the results of the analysis by area. The first column is the area
name assigned by the user. The second column is the annualized flux of carbon to the
atmosphere (equal to pre-project carbon stocks per hectare minus post-project carbon stocks
per hectare). A negative flux is a net removal of carbon from the atmosphere. The third
column is the same value converted into units of CO2. The right-hand column is the total CO2
emissions per year over the area in question. These are shown for the individual areas as well
as the overall total.
Common situations requiring additional explanation
• Wood is obtained from a long-established forest where sustainable forest
management practices help ensure that long-term average carbon stocks are stable.
In many cases, companies are obtaining wood from land that has been in sustainably
managed forest for many years. In these cases, there may be no interest in looking at a
pre-project condition that predates the establishment of the managed forest. Instead, in
the absence of contrary information, it may be reasonable to assume that the
company’s use of the forest is having little impact on long-term average forest
ecosystem carbon stocks. This is easily handled in FICAT by using exactly the same
pre-project and post-project conditions.
• A forest supplies wood to multiple operations, only some of which are of interest.
Many managed forests supply wood to multiple operations or multiple companies. In
these cases, it will usually be impossible to specify an area of land where the effects
of forest management are due only to the company using FICAT. One way to handle
this situation in FICAT is to start with the total area of land supplying wood to the
operation being modeled, but for purposes of FICAT, input a fraction of this area
reflecting the fraction of the wood that goes to the user’s operation from this land. In
other words, if the operation draws wood from 1000 hectares but only 20% of the
wood from this land goes to the operation being modeled, enter 200 hectares in
FICAT.
• The model user has forest carbon data that could be used in the calculations but it is
not in the same format as shown in the “pools and parameters” window of the model.
To use the model, the user enters information on the “general information” and “land
use information” windows. This then populates the rows of the “pools and parameters”
window. It is on the pools and parameters window that the default values selected
from IPCC guidance can be changed. Where companies have forest carbon data that
can be used in FICAT, this is encouraged because the default forest carbon
information in the model is known to have a very high uncertainty associated with it.
In some cases, however, the user’s information may not fit the parameters shown in
the pools and parameters window. For instance, a company may have a study that
describes only the total forest ecosystem carbon, but not the individual components
shown on the pools and parameters window. In this case, the user can use trial-anderror to vary the different changeable parameter values until the bottom line “total” is
equal to the desired value. “Tricking” FICAT into generating the correct value for
“total land use carbon” will not cause problems because the parameters in the pools
and parameters window are not used elsewhere in the model.
• The user has forest carbon data in terms of tons of carbon added or lost per year per
hectare.
The model characterizes the long-term impact of the project activity. The user,
however, may have information on the annual carbon accumulation during the period
of transition between the “stead state” pre-project and post-project conditions (for
instance, over the period when plantations are being established). Because the annual
gains are highly variable from year to year, the model does not attempt to generate a
year-by-year assessment of the impacts. Instead, the user must use develop an
estimate of what the long-term average carbon stocks per hectare were before the
project was started and after the completed project has arrived at “steady state.” To do
this, the values needed by the model are (a) the average carbon stock per hectare
before and after the project, and (b) the project period over which you want to
“spread” the increase/decrease in carbon stocks that are observed over the life of the
project.
• FICAT drop down window does not include the parameter value I need.
The land-based carbon calculations in FICAT are based on IPCC’s 2006 Guidelines
for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. The IPCC does not provide parameter
values for many situations that a company may encounter. For example, IPCC does
not provide a default value for above ground forest biomass in temperate, natural
forests in Africa. In such cases, the user will have to select the parameter values that
are expected to yield the most accurate estimates.
Element 2 - Carbon in Products
Introduction
In this element of FICAT, you enter data needed to characterize the fate of carbon in forest
products as they are used and at the end-of-life. The data you enter here is also used in a
number of other places in the model so you must complete this element before moving to
elements 3 through 10.
At the end of this section, we provide guidance on how you can address several common
situations you may encounter where the carbon-in-product input screens do not seem
appropriate for your circumstances.
In order to provide transparency regarding the internal consistency of the carbon accounting,
FICAT asks that the user estimate what fraction of the wood used to manufacture products
entered in the “carbon in products” element (not including recovered fiber) come from land
areas entered in the “land-based carbon” element of FICAT. To enter this value, click on
“product/wood percentage” in the upper left of the data entry window.
Calculation framework
The approach used to model the fate of carbon in products is based on concepts embedded in
IPCC reporting guidelines. The specific approach, however, is different from IPCC
guidelines because some of the calculation methods that are suited to national-level
accounting are not appropriate for companies or other entities.
The significance of carbon in products is determined by using published time-in-use
information from IPCC or other sources. This information, in the form of first order
mathematical relationships, is used to estimate the amount of carbon that will still be in use
after 100 years. 100 years is chosen because (a) it is the same as is normally used for
determining global warming potentials of greenhouse gases, and (b) it is distant enough to
address concerns about permanence while being near enough to have significance to current
concerns about the global carbon cycle. This “100-year” carbon, for purposes of FICAT, is
considered to be a removal of CO2 from the atmosphere (i.e. a negative emission).
After use, a certain fraction of used material will often be sent to landfills. Studies have
shown that because modern landfills contain very little oxygen, some of the carbon in forest
products is essentially non-degradable. In particular, lignin is non-degradable under anaerobic
conditions and non-lignin components of wood that are protected by non-degradable coatings
(e.g. clays) may also remain in landfills for very long periods. FICAT uses current data on the
ultimate fate of carbon in landfills for different types of forest products to identify that
fraction of carbon that can be considered, for all intents and purposes, permanently stored in
landfills. This carbon is considered a removal of CO2 from the atmosphere (i.e. a negative
emission). The methane emissions associated with forest products decaying in landfills are
calculated in Element 9 of FICAT.
For biomass materials that are sold specifically as energy products, the model assumes that
there is no storage of carbon, but where the model asks you to enter the fraction of product
burned for energy at end of life you should enter 1.0 because this will be used later in the
model to estimate avoided emissions.
Getting Started
Before beginning, click on “Notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in
sentence form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the
calculations in this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
To use this element of FICAT you will need to separate the products manufactured by the
entity of interest into categories, using common industry terminology selected via drop down
windows. You may need to divide a single product type into two groups with different
descriptions if, for instance, they are shipped to two different markets with very different endof-life methods for disposed products.
In addition to the amounts of different types of products manufactured, you will need general
information on the waste management practices in markets where the products are used and
disposed. Finally, you will need to know the fraction of manufacturing waste that is landfilled
and the type of landfill that is most likely used (via a selection in a drop down window).
Data entry
To begin data entry, click on the “Next” button below and then click “Product” and “New” in
the menu at the top of the screen. You must complete all entry fields. The window to the right
tells you what information you have entered for the product you are working on.
After entering the amount of product, and giving this amount a descriptor, you indicate the
category via selections in a drop down window. The categories cover most pulp, paper,
paperboard and wood products in commerce but if you cannot find a category that matches
your need, select the category that is closest in terms of the product’s composition (e.g.
bleached pulp vs unbleached pulp or coated vs uncoated, etc) and how is used. If the same
product goes to multiple markets, it may be necessary to subdivide the amounts to reflect the
specific use patterns or end-of-life management methods used in different markets. On the
other hand, if all of the product is used in the say way and is likely to be managed similarly at
end of life, it can be combined into a single product description.
Default values are included for the biomass carbon fraction for different products and their
half-life during use. (Half-life is the time over which one-half of the original material has
been removed from use. The half-life is used in a first order equation to model the amount
remaining in use over time.) You may change the default values for both the biomass carbon
fraction and the half-life in use. You move to the next screen by clicking on “next” at the
bottom of the screen.
On the next screen, you must provide information on how the used product will be managed
at the end-of-life. You will need to know the fraction of used product that is burned for
energy, recycled and landfilled. The sum of these fractions should not exceed 1 but may be
less than one if some used product is managed by methods other than these three (e.g. used in
compost). For biomass materials that are sold specifically as energy products, you should
enter a value of 1.0 where the model asks you to enter the fraction of product burned for
energy at end of life. This will be used later in the model to estimate avoided emissions.
For material going to landfill, you will need to select the type of landfill. This determines the
fraction of disposed product that decomposes under anaerobic conditions. (More information
is contained in the Emissions: End-of-Life element of this model). In developed countries, the
large majority of landfills are “managed anaerobic.” If the used product is not primarily going
to one type of landfill, you will need to divide the product into two groups, providing
different descriptions for each group and doing the data entry separately for each.
The carbon “permanently sequestered” is the non-degradable fraction under anaerobic
conditions, based on current science. These values can be changed the user. For users that
are producing intermediate products, the fraction permanently sequestered should reflect the
final product. For instance, for market pulp used in uncoated free sheet, a much large fraction
of the carbon is degradable than for market pulp used in coated free sheet. The values entered
here should reflect this difference. This may require dividing the product “market pulp” into
several pieces, reflecting the various final products and the characteristics of those final
products.
“Uncollected methane oxidized” is your assumption about the fraction of methane in the
landfill that is oxidized as it moves through the landfill cover. The normal default, used by
IPCC and others, is 10%.
Many modern landfills are equipped with capping systems designed to collect and burn
methane. You will need to enter a value for the fraction of methane generated from you
product that is collected and burned. This may be available from national government sources
in the markets where your products are used. Alternatively, you can estimate this fraction by
multiplying 0.75 by the fraction of waste placed in landfills with methane capture systems,
the 0.75, representing IPCC’s default assumption that methane capture and burning systems
destroy 75% of the methane generated in these landfills. For instance, if 36% of landfills have
such systems, about 27% (=0.75*36%) of generated methane is destroyed in systems with
methane capture and burning systems.
The third screen (tab) in this element deals with solid waste from the facilities that
manufacture the product. This is a small contributor to the total carbon profile so FICAT uses
default generation rate values (based on a percentage of production) to estimate the amount of
waste generated, but these defaults can be changed by the user. Note that the wood product
“waste” factor is large because it includes sawdust, chips and other materials that may be
wastes, but are more often co-products or by-products (frequently used as fuel or raw
materials by other facilities). Normally, only a small fraction of the residuals from wood
products plants is waste and the value entered in this field should be only waste material. Coproducts and by-products should be entered as separate products in the “Carbon in products”
element. Biomass carbon content is assumed to be 50%, but this also can be changed by the
user. The user must enter the fraction landfilled and the type of landfill.
When you click “save,” you are taken to a summary screen where you see the results in terms
of the amounts of carbon stored in products in use, products in landfills and manufacturing
waste landfill sites.
To enter a new product, click on “product/new” at the top of the page. To change the values
for an existing row, double click on the row.
Results
As the information for each product is saved, the information is shown on a summary table.
Some of the summary information for the products is shown on the top half of the screen
while the results of the calculations, in units of CO2 equivalents per year, are shown on the
bottom of the screen.
The first column of the results identifies the type of product. The second column shows the
net carbon storage (in CO2 eq./yr) in products in use over a 100-year period (a positive
number is a net removal from the atmosphere). The third column is the carbon storage in
products in landfills (in CO2 eq./yr), calculated over a period of time long enough to let all
degradable carbon decompose to CO2 and CH4. The fourth column is the carbon in mill
wastes that is stored in landfills (in CO2 eq./yr). The right-hand column is the total of the
three columns to its left. A grand total is shown at the bottom of the screen.
Common situations requiring additional explanation
• One type of product is shipped to many different places that have dissimilar end-oflife practices.
Because the end of life is very important to the profile, the product, as it is entered in
the “carbon in products” area of the model, should be divided into several pieces, each
one reflecting a different end-of-life profile. For instance, if the mill produces free
sheet, it might divide the production into “free sheet shipped to North America” and
“free sheet shipped to China”.
• Market pulp is made into many different products
Market pulp producers should select “market pulp” from the drop down list of
products. However, because the characteristics of the end product can be very
important to carbon storage and the end-of-life emissions, market pulp mills may
want to divide their output according to end product. For instance, a mill might have
separate entries for “pulp for uncoated free sheet” and “pulp for coated free sheet”.
(This difference particular difference is important because coated grades decay much
more slowly in landfills.)
• Much of the material considered “waste” in the manufacturing waste generation rate
is sometimes valuable by-product material (e.g. sawdust from lumber mills).
There are many situations in the forest products sector, especially in wood products
manufacturing, where a material is generated that has no useful purpose at the facility
but can serve as a useful raw material at a different facility – i.e. they are by-products
or co-products. In most cases, these co-products and by-products should be entered as
separate products by the user since they are not waste materials. The extent to which
the downstream emissions associated with by-products and co-products are included
in FICAT should be noted in the “notes” field (button at the top of the page). Care
should be taken not to double count upstream emissions associated with these coproducts and by-products.
One common example of a by-product is the sale of sawdust by a lumber mill to be
used as fuel elsewhere (i.e. a biomass energy product). To handle this in FICAT, the
waste generation rate of the sawmill is adjusted so that it no longer includes this by-
product material. A new product can then be created in FICAT – a “biomass energy
product” - and the appropriate information entered. Because it is assumed that the only
downstream emissions related to biomass energy products are transport-related
emissions and the CH4 and N2O associated with combustion. These situations require
very little additional work in FICAT.
In cases where by-products are used a raw materials for other forest products,
however, the situation is more complicated. An example would be the use of sawdust
or chips from a lumber mill to produce market pulp. The user should still create a new
product in FICAT but the product type will be the end-product of the facility (e.g.
market pulp) to whom the materials (e.g. sawdust and chips) are transferred to for
further processing. The parameter values entered in the model will related to the
market pulp and subsequent final products. This will include the downstream
manufacturing emissions, purchased electricity, transport and end-of-life attributable
to this additional intermediate and final product. Given the complexities of such
situations, users may therefore decide to consider many by-products as being part of a
different value chain and not include them in FICAT calculations. This should be
clearly stated in the “notes” entered at the “Carbon in products” element (see upper
right hand part of the screen for the “notes” button).
• There are many products for which there are no default data in FICAT
There are many products that can be produced from forests. FICAT includes default
parameter values for those produced in the largest amounts globally. To use the model
on products not listed (e.g. furniture), the user will either have to find the information
required by the model, or will have to select a product type in the model that is similar
to the one of interest with respect to the of the downstream emissions expected in
manufacturing, transport and end-of-life. Perhaps the best source of additional data is
life cycle inventories done on the product of interest.
• My products are shipped to foreign countries and I do not know how products are
managed at end-of-life in those countries.
Information is often available from the national government authorities. The
greenhouse gas inventories submitted under the UNFCCC can be good sources of
information on the disposal practices for waste. Unfortunately, information is seldom
available for individual types of material. It may be necessary to assume that your
used product is managed in the same way as municipal solid wastes.
IPCC has published default values for landfilling of solid waste for many of the
regions of the world. These are shown in the table below. It must be noted, however,
that an examination of the IPCC values suggests that some of the factors are based on
municipal solid waste before used paper is recovered for recycling or otherwise
removed from the waste stream. In these cases, using these numbers will yield high
estimates of paper going to landfill. Other sources suggest that North America,
approximately 40% of used paper (before recovery for recycling) is landfilled
whereas in the EU-15, a more reasonable estimate is probably 30%.[1] These same
sources suggest that about one-half of used paper is recovered for recycling in the
EU-15 and US but only 10% is burned for energy in the US whereas in the EU-15, the
fraction burned for energy is likely closer to 20%.
Fraction of Discards Sent to Landfills
(IPCC 2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories)
Eastern Asia
South-Central Asia
South-East Asia
Africa
Eastern Europe
Northern Europe
Southern Europe
Western Europe
Caribbean
Central America
South America
North America
Oceania
0.55
0.74
0.59
0.69
0.90
0.47
0.85
0.47
0.83
0.50
0.54
0.58
0.85
In selecting the type of landfill, in developed countries it is reasonable to assume that
most of the waste is sent to “managed-anaerobic” landfills. In the least developed
countries, it is reasonable to assume that waste is sent to “unmanaged shallow”
landfills. Again, national government authorities or publications may have
information that allows the user to determine this.
Likewise, the user may not know what fraction of methane is collected and burned in
the countries where its products are sold. Recent national inventory reports suggest
that 0.5 is a reasonable value to use in the EU-15 [2] and the US while 0.25 may be
more appropriate for Canada. Other developed countries are expected to fall within
this range. In the developing and least developed countries, very little of the methane
is collected and burned.
• I am producing fuel wood from the forest. It is burned for energy but this burning is
not an end-of-life management method. How do I show this in the tool.
To allow the tool to properly perform the calculations, you consider the burning of
fuel wood for energy as and end-of-life activity.
• My mill produces several different products but the solid wastes are combined so I
do not know what the waste generation rate is for each product.
Waste generation rate is expressed as a fraction of the weight of the specific product
being considered. If multiple products are produced, allocate total mill solid waste
among the different products. You can use the same waste generation rate for each
product or use different waste generate rates for different products as long as the
resulting total amount of solid waste is equal to the total generated by the
mill.
Emissions – Manufacturing
Introduction
This element of FICAT addresses greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuel
combustion in manufacturing, and imports and exports of greenhouse gases by manufacturing
facilities. Emissions from landfills attributable to the decomposition of mill wastes are
calculated in the end-of-life section of the model. Other minor emissions from manufacturing
facilities are not included.
FICAT is intended to characterize the complete forest products value chain. Therefore, the
user must attempt to include information on manufacturing operations in the value chain
whether or not they are owned/controlled by the user.
Calculation Framework
FICAT relies on the framework of the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol, associated
calculation tools and IPCC emission factors. It is able to calculate emissions from fossil fuel
use data or the user can enter emission directly. Emissions can be calculated or entered by
combustion unit or by facility. For fossil fuels, emissions estimates include CO2, CH4 and
N2O. For biomass fuels, emissions estimates include CH4 and N2O. Biomass-derived CO2
emissions are calculated and shown as added information but are not included in emissions
totals because (a) this would violate accepted reporting practices, and (b) in the specific
context of FICAT, this would amount to double counting since forest carbon and harvested
carbon are accounted for in other parts of the model.
As regards imports and exports of greenhouse gases, the most common situations involve (a)
exports of combustion gases to a nearby facility for use in making precipitated calcium
carbonate and (b) imports of CO2 for various purposes in the mill (e.g. neutralization). In the
context of the value chain, these emissions/imports are small and usually can be ignored
where doing so is consistent with the intended use of the model output. In any event, FICAT
does not subtract exported emissions from the mill’s total emissions. The entries are included
as added information only.
Getting started
Before beginning, click on “Notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in
sentence form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the
calculations in this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
Combustion Sources
To understand the profile of your value chain, you need to include combustion-related
emissions associated with the following manufacturing activities.
• Fuel consumption in primary manufacturing (e.g. the production of pulp, paper and
paperboard, lumber, panels, etc.)
• Fuel consumption in secondary manufacturing, sometimes called converting (the
conversion of primary products into final products; e.g. boxes, cartons, newspapers,
magazines, furniture, houses, etc.)
You should include all of these. For instance, if you manufacture book paper from purchased
pulp, in addition to emissions associated with fuels you burn, you must include the upstream
combustion-related emissions from pulp manufacturing and the downstream emissions from
printing and book production.
For sources where you have information on fuel use, FICAT can calculate the emissions for
you. This is done by (a) selecting “Source/New Combustion Source” at the top of the page,
(b) naming the new source in the “source description” column, (c) clicking on the button at
the far right of the row, and (d) then entering the types and amounts of fuel burned by that
source. If you want to enter the emissions directly rather than calculate them from fuel use,
the emissions can be entered directly into the fourth column (to the left of the “calculate
emissions” button).
Emissions from each source must be classified as being direct or indirect. If you own or
control the source, the emissions are direct emissions. Otherwise, they are indirect. You
designate the type of emission by using the drop down menu in the second column, headed
“source emission type”.
A source can either be an individual boiler or an entire facility because the calculator allows
the user to enter multiple fuels for each “source”. The emission factors used in the calculator
are from IPCC’s 2006 Guidelines.
If you are lacking information on the combustion-related emissions from primary
manufacturing, you can use the following defaults to estimate the emissions. The estimate
can then be entered in the tool by selecting “source/enter emissions directly for new source”.
Table. Emission factors to use in estimating emissions from facilities where fuel consumption
information is not available
Fossil Direct CO2
Intensity
Production Category
(mt CO2 / admt)
Chemical market pulp mill
0.3
Integrated bleached chemical pulp and paper/paperboard mill
0.9
Integrated unbleached chemical pulp and paper/paperboard mill
0.6
Integrated mechanical pulp and paper
0.6
Recycled paperboard or containerboard mill
0.5
Non-integrated paper/paperboard mill using primarily purchased
1
pulp
Deinked market pulp
0.5
Lumber – not dried
0
Lumber – dried
0.01
Structural panels (e.g. plywood and OSB)
0.05
Non-structural panels (e.g. particleboard and MDF)
0.3
If you are lacking data on combustion-related emissions from secondary manufacturing, you
can assume that it is 15% of the emissions from primary manufacturing. This represents a
reasonable average estimate based on lifecycle studies of forest products, but is subject to
considerable uncertainty and is likely too high for many products. These emissions will need
to be estimated off-line and then entered directly into FICAT using the same method as
described above for primary manufacturing emissions.
For each source, the emissions are shown at the top of the “combustion source” page. The
emissions totals, divided into direct and indirect emissions, are shown at the bottom of the
page.
Imports/Exports of Greenhouse Gases
Facilities will sometimes import or export significant quantities of greenhouse gases. These
can include the following.
• Exports of combustion-derived CO2 for use as a raw material by adjoining
manufacturing facilities (e.g. by firms making precipitated calcium carbonate for
subsequent sale to the mill)
• Imports of CO2 for neutralization
• Imports of PFCs or HFCs for air conditioning units
These are usually small compared to other elements of the mills greenhouse gas profile.
Where they are known, they can be included in FICAT. The information is not used in the
calculations, however. The information on CO2 exports is not used due to the uncertainties
about whether the exported CO2 is released elsewhere in a different value chain. Information
on imports of CO2, PFCs and HFCs is not used due to their small contributions to the value
chain emissions and the effort needed to obtain information needed to perform the
calculations.
Common situations requiring additional explanation
• The user has fuel use information only for the facilities he/she owns
The user should develop estimates for all forest products manufacturing operations in
the value chain. This includes primary manufacturing (e.g. rolls of uncoated free
sheet) and final product (e.g. reams of uncoated free sheet). The documentation and
help menus contain default emission factors for many common types of forest
products manufacturing operations. For final product manufacturing (often called
converting) it can be assumed that emissions are 15% of those in primary and
intermediate product manufacturing (an estimate that is too large for many situations).
Emissions – Wood Production
Introduction
This element of FICAT addresses greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing
wood. It does not include transportation-related emissions, which are addressed in a separate
part of the model. The emissions associated with producing non-wood fiber and recovered
fiber are also addressed. In almost all situations, these emissions are a very small portion of
the value chain emissions. The default calculations, therefore, are not designed to yield highly
accurate estimates of these emissions. If the user has better information than the default
emission factors, the more accurate information can be used in the model.
Calculation Framework
FICAT relies on literature that indicates that emissions from forest management are related
primarily to three generic activities: harvesting/thinning, burning and fertilization. Based on
the literature, emission factors have been developed reflecting the emissions associated with
these practices. A default emission factor of zero is used for recovered fiber, reflecting the
minimal amount of processing energy applied to the fiber between the pick-up point and the
mill. This default, however, can be changed, as can the non-wood fiber default factor of zero
(due to lack of information). [Note: In life cycle studies, some of the emissions from virgin
manufacturing are sometimes allocated to recovered fiber, reflecting its value as a raw
material. For simplicity, FICAT does not attempt this.]
Getting started
Before beginning, click on “Notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in
sentence form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the
calculations in this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
The user needs to know the amounts of wood supplied to the mill that fall into each of the
following four categories.
• The only management is harvesting (including thinning).
• In addition to harvesting, fire is used for forest management.
• In addition to harvesting, fertilizers are used.
• In addition to harvesting, both fire and fertilizers are used.
• Recovered fiber.
• Non-wood fiber.
Data entry
Enter the tons per year for each of these categories. Also enter the tons per year of non-wood
fiber and recovered fiber used at the facility. Then change the emission factors as appropriate.
Emissions – Other Raw Materials/Fuels
Introduction
This element calculates the upstream emissions associated with the non-fiber inputs to the
manufacturing process. The model includes emission factors derived from information in a
number of databases (in particular, the Fisher International, ecoinvent and USLCI databases).
For the major products of the forest products industry, the emission factors are based on
typical recipes of inputs to manufacturing. The emission factors are multiplied by the
quantities of product entered in the “Carbon in Products” element of the model. For tissue and
toweling, the user must enter an emission factor (FICAT has no default). For fossil fuels,
upstream emission factors are multiplied by the quantities of fossil fuels entered in the
“Emissions-Manufacturing” element of FICAT. The estimates do not include emissions
associated with inputs to downstream operations. In cases where the user has entered
emissions directly instead of entering fuel consumption data, the upstream emissions are
estimated by extrapolating those from reported fuels (based on the ratio of emissions from
reported fuels to total emissions). Where no fuels are reported, the upstream emissions
associated with fuels are estimated by multiplying the directly-entered emissions by 0.2, a
factor that is between the upstream emissions factor for natural gas and diesel oil.
Calculation Framework
The calculations simply multiply the amounts of product or fossil fuel by the appropriate
default emission factor. The user may use a different emission factor.
Data entry
Before beginning, click on “Notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in
sentence form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the
calculations in this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
Unless the user is going to change the default emission factors, the user does not make any
data entries on this page.
Results
The results are displayed in three windows. The top two windows show the emissions for
each product and fossil fuel. The results at the bottom show the totals.
Common situations requiring additional explanation
• The user entered manufacturing emissions directly instead of using the calculator to
convert fuel use into emissions estimates.
In these cases, the model cannot calculate the upstream emissions associated with
fossil fuels. If, for completeness, the user wants to include these, it will be necessary
to use fuel consumption data and the calculator.
• Downstream processing involves inputs that are not addressed in the model.
Where, for instance, the company using the model produces market pulp, the model
will calculate the upstream emissions associated with a “typical” input list for market
pulp production but not for the chemical inputs to the paper mill that uses the market
pulp. Where the user wants to include the emissions associated with inputs to
downstream manufacturing operations, the “upstream emission factor” for the “nonfiber inputs to manufacturing” can be adjusted upward to reflect these inputs.
Emissions – Purchased Electricity/Steam/Heat
Introduction
This part of the tool estimates the emissions associated with purchased electricity and steam.
The emissions associated with purchases by operations controlled by the company are “Scope
2” emissions under the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol. If someone else owns the
manufacturing facility making the purchases, the resulting emissions are Scope 3. A tool
(CHP Emissions Allocation Tool) is provided to assist in calculating the emissions associated
with electricity or steam that is purchased from a combined heat and power (CHP) system.
FICAT is intended to characterize the complete forest products value chain. Therefore, the
user must attempt to include information on manufacturing operations in the value chain
whether or not they are owned/controlled by the user.
Calculation Framework
The tool contains default emissions factors for purchased electricity for most countries in the
world. These factors are from WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol calculation tools. As
recommended by the calculation tools, the same factors are used a default factors for
purchased steam. The model simply multiplies the quantities of purchased electricity or steam
entered by the user by the appropriate emission factor. The user is encouraged to enter a
different emission factor where a more accurate one is available. Emission factors can vary
significantly from among regions within countries.
The CHP Emissions Allocation Tool uses the “efficiency method” for allocating the emission
from CHP systems to the energy outputs (electricity and steam). This is the same method
contained in the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol calculation tools for pulp and paper mills and
wood product facilities. The tool estimates how much fuel was required to produce each
energy output based on user assumptions about the efficiency of producing each energy
output. The result is an emission factor for steam and one for electricity.
Getting Started
Before beginning, click on “notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in sentence
form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the calculations in
this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified. This will be
included in the report generated by FICAT.
The user needs to enter how much electricity and steam is purchased in a given year for each
significant manufacturing operation in the value chain and indicate whether each operation is
controlled by the FICAT user. In addition, although the model provides default emission
factors, the user should determine whether the national governments publishes emission
factors for purchased electricity that are specific to individual regions within the country.
Where these are available they should be obtained.
To understand the profile of your value chain, you should include electricity and steam
purchased by all significant manufacturing facilities in the value chain, whether you own
them or not.
You should attempt to include all of these. For instance, if you manufacture book paper from
purchased pulp, in addition to electricity purchased at your facility, you should include the
electricity purchased by the facilities involved in market pulp production as well as printing
and book production.
If you are lacking information on the electricity purchases from primary manufacturing, you
can use the following defaults to estimate the purchases. The estimate can then be entered in
FICAT.
Table. Emission factors to use in estimating electricity purchases by facilities
where this information is not available
Net Electricity Intensity
(MWh / admt)
Production Category
Chemical market pulp mill
0.1
Integrated bleached chemical pulp and paper/paperboard mill
0.9
Integrated unbleached chemical pulp and paper/paperboard mill
0.6
Integrated mechanical pulp and paper
2
Recycled paperboard or containerboard mill
0.6
Non-integrated paper/paperboard mill using primarily purchased
1
pulp
Deinked market pulp
1.6
Lumber – not dried
0.3
Lumber – dried
0.3
Structural panels (e.g. plywood and OSB)
0.4
Non-structural panels (e.g. particleboard and MDF)
1
* These values are larger than for most facilities in these categories and have been
selected to give the user incentive to obtain actual emissions data from emissions
sources.
If you are lacking data on purchased electricity-related emissions from secondary
manufacturing, you can assume that they are 15% of the purchases in primary manufacturing.
This represents a reasonable overall value but is subject to considerable uncertainty.
Data entry
Before beginning, click on “Notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in
sentence form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the
calculations in this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
This will be included in the report generated by FICAT
Select “New Import” from the “Source” menu at the top left of the screen. Select electricity or
steam from the drop down window located in the grid. Next, enter a description followed by a
quantity of the annual purchases in the grid. Then, using the next drop down cell, select the
country from which the electricity or steam is purchased. The next cell on the right will show
the default emission factor for that country. If you wish to change this factor, you may do so
in the cell to its right. The last cell allows you to specify if the plant is owned or controlled
by the FICAT user.
On the next line, you indicate whether the facility making the purchase is controlled by the
FICAT user and enter a few words to explain the source of the electricity of the emission
factor used, if it is different than the default.
If you are purchasing steam or electricity from a CHP system, you may need to develop an
emission factor specifically for the energy you are purchasing. The “CHP Emissions
Allocation Tool”, accessible via a tab at the top of the page, can be used to develop these
factors. To use the tool, enter the heat and power outputs of the CHP system, the total fuel
input, and the emissions from the CHP unit. You then need to enter a number that is equal to
the ratio of efficiencies of steam production to electricity production. The tool shows you the
allowable range for this number (based on the information you entered above). For a situation
where you are assuming that electricity is produced at 35% efficiency and steam is produced
at 80% efficiency, the ratio is 2.3. After you enter this number, the tool shows you the
emission factors for electricity and steam. These can then be used in the calculations on the
“Indirect Emissions from Electricity and/or Steam Imports” tab.
Results
All of these emissions are indirect. The Scope 2 emissions are shown separately at the bottom
of the page. The results are displayed in three windows below the data entry area. The top
area shows the results for electricity, the second areas shows the results for steam, and the
bottom shows the total for each.
Common situations requiring additional explanation
• It is not clear how I should report electricity that I generate and use on-site?
Self-generated electricity is not included in this element of the model. The fuels used
to produce self-generated electricity should be entered in the “Emissions –
Manufacturing” element of the model.
• How should I report electricity that I sell?
Most reporting protocols do not allow you to subtract electricity sales from purchases
before calculating emissions. In other words, in most cases you are not allowed to
estimate these emissions based on net purchases. Instead, these protocols require you
to estimate emissions based on gross purchases. This is done because the sold
electricity is a product, just like the forest product, and the emissions associated with
it are part of your value chain. FICAT does, however, allow you to separately
calculate the emissions that are avoided as a result of your having displaced electricity
from the grid. This is discussed in the “Emissions – Avoided” element of the model.
Emissions – Transportation
Introduction
This part of the model estimates the emissions associated with transportation activities along
the value chain. It is intended to include transport of major raw materials (fiber, in
particular), intermediate products (e.g. rolls of paper) and final products (e.g. boxes). It does
not include employee travel.
Calculation Framework
The model uses emission factors from the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol calculation tools. For
ease of use, FICAT uses factors that depend only on the mode of transport. The user may
change these factors if more appropriate values are available. The user enters the amounts of
freight, the distance hauled, the mode of transport, and indicates whether the transport
emissions are direct or indirect.
If transport vehicles return empty, you should enter twice the one-way distance in the tool.
This may be case, for instance, in wood transport.
Getting Started
Before beginning, click on “notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in sentence
form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the calculations in
this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
The user needs information on the amounts of major raw materials (at least wood and
recovered fiber), intermediate products (pulp, paper, lumber, panels) and final products (e.g.
magazines, pallets). For each, the user needs to know the travel distance, the mode of
transport, whether the vehicle returns empty and whether the emissions are direct or indirect.
Data entry
Select “New” from the “Source” menu at the top left of the screen. In the data grid, edit the
freight description, shipped quantity and average haul distance. Also in the grid select a
freight type, emission type and transportation mode. The transport emission factor will be set
to the default factor when the transportation mode selected, you may alter this factor. When
finished with a particular product, FICAT calculates the emissions and places the results on
the screen below the data entry area. To modify a previously entered value, click on the row
and edit the values in the grid.
Results
The results, summed according to type of material, are shown at the bottom of the screen. On
the summary screen of FICAT, these emissions are divided into direct and indirect emissions.
Common situations requiring additional explanation
• My product is shipped to several countries and by several different modes
In this case, the product should be divided into several entries, with each entry
showing the quantity using a specific mode of transport over a specific average
distance.
• I own some of the transport vehicles and others are leased
The same rules that have been applied to establish ownership or control for
determining manufacturing emissions should be used here. Guidance on determining
ownership/control can be found in the GHG Protocol Corporate Reporting Standard
at www.ghgprotocol.org.
Emissions – Product Use
Introduction
Forest products almost never release greenhouses during use. The only significant exception
are biomass energy products; i.e. products made from wood that are intentionally sold to be
used as a source of energy. These products release small amounts of methane and nitrous
oxide when they are used (burned). These emissions are calculated by the model. All other
emissions during product use are assumed to be zero.
Consumers use certain types of paper (e.g. copy paper) in operations (e.g. copiers) that
consume energy. In FICAT, the emissions associated with this energy are not emissions from
the paper but emissions associated with a final converting operation – i.e. an operation
required to generate the ultimate final product or functional unit which, in this case, is a page
of printed material. If the user wants to include this equipment within the boundaries of the
assessment, it can be included as an additional manufacturing stage in Elements 3 and 6.
Calculation Framework
The model uses emission factors from IPCC to estimate methane and nitrous oxide emissions
from biomass combustion.
Getting Started
Before beginning, click on “Notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in
sentence form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the
calculations in this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
The user needs no information for this element.
Data entry
In the grid, select the emission type and indicate whether or not the emissions have been
accounted for previously.
Results
The results, by product, are shown in the large window of the screen.
Emissions – End-of-Life
Introduction
The only significant emissions associated with the end-of-life of forest products are methane
emissions from landfills. In landfills, a portion of the biomass in forest products and
(landfilled waste) decays, primarily into gas. Under anaerobic conditions, about one-half of
the decomposed carbon is converted to biogenic CO2 while the other half is converted to
CH4. This is important because, according to IPCC’s latest assessment, CH4 is 25 times more
potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
Calculation Framework
The model estimates ultimate methane emissions by calculating the amount of carbon that
will decompose under anaerobic conditions, determining what fraction of this carbon is
converted into methane, and correcting for the amounts of methane will be oxidized to
biogenic CO2 before it leaves the landfill. The amount of carbon in the product that will
decompose to methane depends on the type of product and the type of landfill. In aerobic
landfills, none of the carbon is converted to methane while in well-managed anaerobic
landfills, one-half of the degradable carbon is converted to methane. In anaerobic landfills,
far less of the carbon can be degraded if the products contain significant amounts of lignin or
are coated. Methane is oxidized both by natural processes and by capture and burning in
landfill cover systems. The model uses IPCC factors and other information to quantify these
phenomena.
Getting Started
Before beginning, click on “Notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in
sentence form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the
calculations in this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
The user needs no information for this element.
Data entry
You may select the emission type in the data grid. To change the factors used to estimate
methane emissions from landfills, return to Element 2: Carbon in Products.
Results
The results for products at end-of-life are shown at the top of the screen. The results for
landfilled waste materials from manufacturing are shown in the middle, and the overall
results are shown at the bottom.
Common situations requiring additional explanation
• Some of the product is burned at end-of-life but the model does not show the
methane and nitrous oxide emissions associated with this.
Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from burning used paper are small enough that
they can be ignored in the model. Avoided emissions (of fossil fuel CO2), however,
can be estimated in Element 10: Avoided Emissions.
Emissions – Avoided
Introduction
When an activity prevents emissions from occurring, the emissions are said to have been
“avoided.” There are several types of avoided emissions that are widely recognized as being
important in the forest product industry value chain. These are (a) avoided emissions of
methane from, and carbon storage in, landfills as a result of paper recycling, (b) avoided
fossil fuels emissions associated with burning discarded products as fuel, and (c) avoided
emissions from combustion of fossil fuel at commercial power plants as a result of a mill’s
having exported “green” electricity to the grid. FICAT assists in calculating all three of these
avoided emissions.
Before beginning, click on “Notes” on the top menu and enter enough information, in
sentence form, to help a reader understand the general scope of what is included in the
calculations in this part of the model and any special circumstances that need to be clarified.
Avoided emissions associated with recycling
The model calculates the avoided methane emissions and avoided sequestration associated
with using recovered paper. The calculation methods are the same as those in the end-of-life
element of FICAT. The user, however, must tell the model how much of the different major
grades of recovered paper are used and how much of this would have been landfilled if it had
not been recycled. The landfill parameters must also be entered. This is done by clicking on
the button at the right of each row and entering the needed information in the pop-up screen.
Avoided emissions associated with burning used products
In the “carbon in products” element of the model, the user entered information on how much
used product (and biomass energy product) was burned for energy recovery at the end of life.
These values are shown in the second column at the top of the window in the “combustion”
tab of the “emissions – avoided” element. The model calculates the avoided emissions
attributable to using these amounts as fuel, given the displacement of fossil fuel specified by
the user.
The third column contains the default energy content of the discarded forest product. This can
be changed by the user. The fourth column contains a drop down window from which the
user selects the type of fossil fuel that was displaced by the use of the discarded products. The
resulting avoided emissions are shown in the last column to the right.
Avoided emissions associated with exports of electricity and steam
If a mill exports electricity that is less greenhouse gas intensive that the electricity on the
grid, it is common to estimate the avoided emissions associated with the fossil fuel that the
power company did not have to burn to generate the electricity. The model does this by
multiplying the amount of exported electricity (or steam) by the difference between the
greenhouse gas intensity of the exported electricity and the intensity of the electricity on the
grid.
Select “Add Export” from the “Exports” menu. The user first selects the energy being
exported using the drop down in the first column on the “Exports of power/steam” tab on the
“Emissions – Avoided” element. The amount exported is entered in the second column. In the
third column, the user must enter the greenhouse gas intensity (i.e. emission factor)
associated with the exported electricity. The user must calculate this value using information
obtained from the facility generating the electricity (or steam). In many cases, this will
involve allocating emissions from CHP units. To assist the user in this allocation, FICAT
includes a CHP emissions allocation tool in the “Emissions – electricity, steam, heat” element
of the model. The user may assume that the exports are displacing electricity or steam that is
generated at the average greenhouse gas intensity of the national grid. To do this, select the
appropriate country from the drop down list in the fourth column. The corresponding
emission factor then appears in the fifth column. The emission factor shown in the fifth
column can be changed by the user. The resulting avoided emission is shown in the righthand column.
Additional avoided emissions
There are many other types of avoided emissions. There have been many studies, for
instance, of the avoided emissions associated with using wood-based construction materials
instead of alternatives in house construction. FICAT allows the user to enter such additional
avoided emissions, but offers no assist in calculating them. It requires that the additional
avoided emission be described, be shown as direct or indirect, be quantified, and then
explained. To create a new item, select “Add Additional Emission” from the “Additional”
menu on the top left of the screen.
A useful source of information for estimating the avoided emissions associated with the use
of wood-based building materials in place of alternative materials is a recent meta-review of
North American and European LCA studies by FPInnovations. That review found the
following.
“Data from 20 studies were used in a meta-analysis of the displacement factors of
wood product substitution. A displacement factor is an index of the efficiency with
which the use of biomass reduces net GHG emission. It quantifies the amount of
emission reduction achieved per unit of wood use. A higher displacement factor
indicates that more GHG emission is reduced; a negative displacement factor means
that emission is greater when using the wood product. In this meta-analysis, the
displacement factors were calculated in units of metric tons of carbon (tC) of emission
reduction per tC in wood product. The calculated displacement factors ranged from a
low of -2.3 to a high of 15.0, with most lying in the range of 1.0 to 3.0. The average
displacement factor value was 2.0, meaning that for each tC in wood products
substituted for non-wood products, an average GHG emission reduction of
approximately two tC can be expected. In other units, this value corresponds to
roughly 3.7 t CO2eq emission reduction per t of dry wood used. This average
number can be viewed as a reasonable estimate of the GHG mitigation efficiency of
wood product use, over a range of product substitutes and analytical methodologies.”
[emphasis added] [From Sathre, R. and J. O’Connor. 2008. A Synthesis of Research
on Wood Products and Greenhouse Gas Impacts. Vancouver, B.C. FPInnovations –
Forintek Division. 74 p. (Technical report TR-19).]
Common situations requiring additional explanation
• I don’t know what type of landfill would have received my product at end-of-life if it
had not been recycled.
Normally, it is reasonable to assume that the landfill that would have received use
product is the same type of landfill as received the paper that was not recycled. There
is more discussion of this earlier in this guide, in the “carbon in products” section.
[1] Waste Management Options and Climate Change: Final Report, ED21158R4.1, July 2001 Table 13
suggests a value of 40% for 2000, but it is now likely lower due to the EU waste directive which greatly limits
the landfilling of organic waste. The approximations above assume that the reduced landfilling in the EU-15 was
accompanied by increased burning for energy.
[2] Waste Management Options and Climate Change: Final Report, ED21158R4.1, July 2001