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Climate change effects of forestry and substitution of carbon-intensive materials and fossil fuels

Gustavsson, Leif ; Haus, Sylvia LU ; Lundblad, Mattias ; Lundström, Anders ; Ortiz, Carina A. ; Sathre, Roger ; Truong, Nguyen Le and Wikberg, Per Erik (2017) In Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 67. p.612-624
Abstract

We estimate the climate effects of directing forest management in Sweden towards increased carbon storage in forests with more land set-aside for protection, or towards increased forest production for the substitution of carbon-intensive materials and fossil fuels, relative to a reference case of current forest management. We develop various scenarios of forest management and biomass use to estimate the carbon balances of the forest systems, including ecological and technological components, and their impacts on the climate in terms of radiative forcing. The scenario with increased set-aside area and the current level of forest residue harvest resulted in lower cumulative carbon emissions compared to the reference case for the first 90... (More)

We estimate the climate effects of directing forest management in Sweden towards increased carbon storage in forests with more land set-aside for protection, or towards increased forest production for the substitution of carbon-intensive materials and fossil fuels, relative to a reference case of current forest management. We develop various scenarios of forest management and biomass use to estimate the carbon balances of the forest systems, including ecological and technological components, and their impacts on the climate in terms of radiative forcing. The scenario with increased set-aside area and the current level of forest residue harvest resulted in lower cumulative carbon emissions compared to the reference case for the first 90 years, but then showed higher emissions as reduced forest harvest led to higher carbon emissions from energy and material systems. For the reference case of current forest management, increased harvest of forest residues gave increased climate benefits. The most climatically beneficial alternative, expressed as reduced cumulative radiative forcing, in both the short and long terms is a strategy aimed at high forest production, high residue recovery rate, and high efficiency utilization of harvested biomass. Active forest management with high harvest levels and efficient forest product utilization will provide more climate benefit, compared to reducing harvest and storing more carbon in the forest.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Biomass residues, Climate change, Forest management, Radiative forcing
in
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
volume
67
pages
13 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:84988361277
ISSN
1364-0321
DOI
10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.056
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
ed6cb353-2179-43e5-80e6-b02b4b82d524
date added to LUP
2019-07-02 10:34:01
date last changed
2022-04-18 08:20:22
@article{ed6cb353-2179-43e5-80e6-b02b4b82d524,
  abstract     = {{<p>We estimate the climate effects of directing forest management in Sweden towards increased carbon storage in forests with more land set-aside for protection, or towards increased forest production for the substitution of carbon-intensive materials and fossil fuels, relative to a reference case of current forest management. We develop various scenarios of forest management and biomass use to estimate the carbon balances of the forest systems, including ecological and technological components, and their impacts on the climate in terms of radiative forcing. The scenario with increased set-aside area and the current level of forest residue harvest resulted in lower cumulative carbon emissions compared to the reference case for the first 90 years, but then showed higher emissions as reduced forest harvest led to higher carbon emissions from energy and material systems. For the reference case of current forest management, increased harvest of forest residues gave increased climate benefits. The most climatically beneficial alternative, expressed as reduced cumulative radiative forcing, in both the short and long terms is a strategy aimed at high forest production, high residue recovery rate, and high efficiency utilization of harvested biomass. Active forest management with high harvest levels and efficient forest product utilization will provide more climate benefit, compared to reducing harvest and storing more carbon in the forest.</p>}},
  author       = {{Gustavsson, Leif and Haus, Sylvia and Lundblad, Mattias and Lundström, Anders and Ortiz, Carina A. and Sathre, Roger and Truong, Nguyen Le and Wikberg, Per Erik}},
  issn         = {{1364-0321}},
  keywords     = {{Biomass residues; Climate change; Forest management; Radiative forcing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{612--624}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews}},
  title        = {{Climate change effects of forestry and substitution of carbon-intensive materials and fossil fuels}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.056}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.056}},
  volume       = {{67}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}