Climate effects of forestry and substitution of concrete buildings and fossil energy
2021 (English)In: Renewable & sustainable energy reviews, ISSN 1364-0321, E-ISSN 1879-0690, Vol. 136, p. 1-15, article id 110435Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy, SDG 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss, SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation
Abstract [en]
Forests can help mitigate climate change in different ways, such as by storing carbon in forest ecosystems, and by producing a renewable supply of material and energy products. We analyse the climate implications of different scenarios for forestry, bioenergy and wood construction. We consider three main forestry scenarios for Kronoberg County in Sweden, over a 201-year period. The Business-as-usual scenario mirrors today’s forestry while in the Production scenario the forest productivity is increased by 40% through more intensive forestry. In the Set-aside scenario 50% of forest land is set-aside for conservation. The Production scenario results in less net carbondioxide emissions and cumulative radiative forcing compared to the other scenarios, after an initial period of 30–35 years during which the Set-aside scenario has less emissions. In the end of the analysed period, the Production scenario yields strong emission reductions, about ten times greater than the initial reduction in the Set-aside scenario. Also, the Set-aside scenario has higher emissions than Business-as-usual after about 80 years. Increasing the harvest level of slash and stumps results in climate benefits, due to replacement of more fossil fuel. Greatest emission reduction is achieved when biomass replaces coal, and when modular timber buildings are used. In the long run, active forestry with high harvest and efficient utilisation of biomass for replacement of carbon-intensive non-wood products and fuels provides significant climate mitigation, in contrast to setting aside forest land to store more carbon in the forest and reduce the harvest of biomass.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2021. Vol. 136, p. 1-15, article id 110435
Keywords [en]
Climate change, Forest residues, Forest management, Energy system, Radiative forcing
National Category
Forest Science Building Technologies
Research subject
Technology (byts ev till Engineering), Forestry and Wood Technology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-99440DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2020.110435ISI: 000598717900005Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85092268715OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-99440DiVA, id: diva2:1507550
2020-12-082020-12-082022-05-17Bibliographically approved