Application of the stock change and the production approach to Harvested Wood Products in the EU-15 countries: a comparative analysis

With the analytical tool: Frankfurt Harvested Wood Products (HWP) Model, carbon stocks and carbon stock changes of HWP, either in USE or in LANDFILLS, have been evaluated from the readily available statistical data base of the FAO, FAOSTAT, on the wood commodities: “Sawnwood and Wood-based Panels” and the paper commodities: “Paper and Paperboard”. Essential differences have been found between the individual 15 EU countries in the comparison of the Stock Change Approach and the Production Approach, as well as in the comparison of the stock changes of HWP with the National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) budgets. The stock changes for the HWP in USE within the EU-15 Community have been calculated to be 10.83 Mt C/a (39.71 Mt CO2/a) based on the Stock Change Approach and 9.81 Mt C/a (35.97 Mt CO2/a) for the Production Approach, respectively. These numbers can be compared to the total GHG Inventory of the EU-15 of 4,095 Mt CO2 equivalents, including all six Kyoto gases, which shows that the carbon sequestration of HWP in USE is of the order of 1% relative to GHG Inventory. The GHG balance for the carbon stock changes of HWP in LANDFILLS is of similar magnitude as for the HWP in USE, and therefore a sink when methane outgasing is disregarded. However, when methane outgasing is considered, which is formed as a 1:1 mixture with CO2 under the prevailing anaerobic conditions the GHG balance results in minus 10.0 Mt C equivalent/a and minus 10.6 Mt C equivalent/a for the Stock Change Approach and the Production Approach under the parameters chosen in this study.