1. FORESTRY
2. THE WOODWORKING
INDUSTRY
3. WOOD PRODUCTS AS
CARBON STORES
4. WOOD PRODUCTS &
CLIMATE CHANGE
5. THE ECOCYCLE OF
WOOD PRODUCTS
E U R O P E A N W O O D FA C T S H E E T S
5. TH E E C O-CYC LE O F WO O D P R O D U CTS
The carbon
cycle of wood
products
•
Carbon sinks
and carbon
stores
•
Recycling
and energy
recovery
•
European
Union
policy
Wood products as carbon stores
Carbon is exchanged naturally between
terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere
through a process of photosynthesis, respiration,
decomposition and combustion. This constitutes
the carbon cycle.
Forests act as carbon sinks, since trees
absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
through photosynthesis and store it as carbon.
When the trees are harvested, much of the
carbon remains stored in all the ensuing
value-added products, thus further mitigating
Climate Change.
Wood products can be repaired and re-used at
the end of their useful life. Wood and woodbased products are recycled for manufacturing
secondary material or, increasingly, for energy
recovery as a substitute for fossil fuels.
Wood is a carbon store, a renewable source of
fibres, a substitute for more fossil fuel intensive
materials and a biofuel.
Wo o d p r o d u c t s a s c a r b o n s t o r e s
Wo o d p r o d u c t i o n
Substitution
Three-quarters of the EU's forests are managed
to produce wood on a commercial scale. For the
past 60 years there has been a steady increase
in forest cover in Europe and today, only 65%
of annual forest growth is harvested 2.
Substitution, where fossil fuel-based products
are replaced by wood, brings a triple gain:
In 2001, the EU’s production of industrial
roundwood reached 231 million m 3, with a
further 72 million m3 from the ten new countries.
Wo o d p r o d u c t s h e l p
reduce Climate Change
With a wood product stock of about 60 million
tonnes in Europe alone, the carbon storage
effect of wood products has a significant role
to play in reducing Climate Change.
Wood products mitigate Climate Change for 7
important reasons:
Renewability
their raw material is renewable
- carbon emissions are decreased in the
production process
- recycling rates are high
- wood products' carbon store increases in the
longer term, so more and more carbon is
removed from the atmosphere.
Material substitution by wood products, such
as building components and furniture with an
estimated life of between 10 to 75 years, is
effective in removing carbon from the
atmosphere. It can play a significant role in
mitigating Climate Change, as the amount of
carbon fixed in wood rises in line with the
increasing industrial use of wood.
On average, substituting a cubic metre of wood
for other building materials results in a saving
of 0,8 tonnes of CO 2.
Carbon storage
they store the carbon trapped in the trees
Low carbon emission
they are produced with low CO 2 processes
Substitution
and substitute for materials produced using
high CO 2 processes
Recycling
they can be recycled
Energy recovery
and then burned as a substitute for fossil fuels
Reforestation
using wood products stimulates reforestation.
A greater proportion of wood products, a longer
useful life and increased recycling are the main
ways to improve the carbon balance 2.
It has been calculated that if wood consumption
were increased by 4% every year in Europe
alone, by 2010 an additional 1 500 million
tonnes of CO 2 stored in wood products would
be removed from the atmosphere. In turn, this
carbon removal could result in carbon credits
currently valued at €82 000 M 1.
Recycling and energy recovery
Extending the life of
wood products
Carbon storage can be extended by increasing
the lifespan of wood products, by using the
appropriate timber species for particular end
uses, by applying wood protection and by the
wise use and maintenance of the products
themselves.
Wood products, for example windows, are also
readily repairable, further extending their carbon
storage. Increasingly, elements such as beams are
being re-used.
Energy recovery
The renewable raw material forest-based
industries use is also a renewable energy source.
Sawmills and wood-based panel plants produce
up to 75% of their own energy needs from
wood residues. They can also supply district
heating and sell energy to the electricity grid.
The industry’s use of biomass energy ensures
low CO 2 emissions in production processes,
and ‘Kyoto-friendly’ products.
Recycling
Wood and wood-based products are among the
most commonly used materials for recycling
into new products and more is being recycled
every year. An increase in the number of times
the wood is recycled and the recycling of more
wood products will enhance the storage of
carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
ECCM (Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management), 2004
Biomass energy, together with investment in
CHP (Combined Heat and Power) energy
plants, makes wood-based industries the least
fossil fuel intensive of any industrial
manufacturing sector.
Right across Europe, more wood is being used
in power generation, in local heating plants, or
in CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plants.
Residents and users benefit from reduced
costs and contribute to reducing CO2 emissions.
Recycled wood is increasingly used for the
production of partical board, from 21,5% in
2002 to nearly 23% by 2004. In addition, the
volume of recycled wood is expected to increase
by another 3% in 2004.
Wood may also be used as a part-substitute for
high carbon emitters such as coal. In the UK,
work is being undertaken in power generation,
for example, replacing 10 000 tonnes of coal
with 14 000 tonnes of wood in the form of
‘coppice willow’ – making an annual saving of
22 000 tonnes of CO 2 (Renewable Fuels) .
Through European Commission’s ‘ManagEnergy
Initiative’ (www.managenergy.net), a number of
case studies demonstrating the use of wood as
bio-fuel have been collected.
European Union policy
Europe leads the way
The Enterprise DG's advisory committee for forestry and forest-based industries has set up a
working group of experts from the wood-based industry sector, scientists and other Commission
departments to improve understanding of ways to account for CO 2 mitigation from wood products.
Their final report was released on 15 June 2004 and concludes 2:
“Forest products definitely play a role in
storing/fossil-fuel intensive materials such as
mitigating Climate Change, by increasing carbon
steel, concrete, plastics, aluminium:
removals from the atmosphere. Their specific
- Replacing fossil fuels and energy intensive
properties, such as carbon storage capacity, high
recyclability, renewability of their raw material,
and the fact that they are less fossil fuel-
materials with sustainably produced wood
products
- Incentives and subsidies to increase the use of
intensive than other materials, make them the
wood products on the model of subsidies
products of choice in the context of policies to
fight Climate Change by reducing greenhouse
gas emissions and increasing greenhouse gas
removals. In particular, important greenhouse
granted for the use of wood as fuel
- Incentives to increase wood collecting, sorting
and recycling
- Fiscal incentives such as a reduced VAT level
gases reductions (CO 2) may result from
for wood products, in particular certified wood
substitution of more energy intensive materials by
wood or wood-based products.
products from sustainably managed forests
under accredited schemes
- Market incentives such as public procurement
The EU also recognizes the importance of
clauses to encourage the use of wood products,
incentives to increase wood consumption.
such as minimum wood content in public
The following measures could be recommended
to increase wood consumption and the
substitution of wood to other non-carbon
buildings to be stipulated in public tenders
- Raising awareness of the role of wood
products for fighting Climate Change.”
LITERATURE
1
MCPFE / U N ECE-FAO – ‘State of Europe’s Forests’ – 2003
2
European Commission, Directorate General Enterprise – ‘Comprehensive report on the Role of Forest Products for the Mitigating of
Climate Change’ – June 2004.
recycling
repair
wood protection