Fossil carbon emissions associated with carbon flowsof wood products

Specific fossil carbon (C) emissions and primary energy useassociated with the manufacture of different wood product groups inFinland are estimated and expressed as emissions or energy use per amountof wood-based C in raw material and per amount in end product. Thecalculation includes both emissions from supplied fuels within the forestindustries, and from electricity and district heat purchased from externalsources. The results are compared to fossil C emissions from the wholelifecycle of harvested wood products. The results of the study show, forinstance, that the emission of fossil C per wood-based C in end products(MgC/MgC) is of the order of 0.07 for sawn wood and 0.3–0.6 for paperin the manufacturing stage. The primary energy use per wood-based C inend product is of the order of 2 MWh/MgC for sawn wood, whereas forvirgin paper grades the figure is between 17 and 19 MWh/MgC. Theprimary energy content is highest in papers based on chemical pulping, butaround 60% of the energy used is produced in this case from by-productwood wastes (black liquor, bark etc.). The specific fossil C emission andprimary energy divided by the estimated service life of the wood productare measures for the relative burden of maintaining the corresponding woodproduct pool. These figures should be kept in mind when considering woodproducts as a potential C sink option.

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