Greenhouse Gas Life Cycle Assessment
From harvest to final product, life cycle analysis finds the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in forest products.
A real world life cycle assessment for dimensional lumber and magazines was conducted by Gower, tracking carbon and emissions from the forest through milling, manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal. That study is one of relatively few, because life cycle analyses extend across many sectors of industry at once.
Life cycle analysis helps land managers and policy makers identify the major sources of an environmental burden, and greenhouse gas emissions are the burden most often examined for wood and paper products. Once those sources are known, they can be targeted for reduction. The general method is described on the life cycle analysis page.
Where emissions enter the chain
- Harvest and transport of wood fiber from the forest to the mill.
- Processing and manufacturing of lumber, paper, and other products.
- Distribution and use of the finished product.
- End of life handling and the carbon released along the way.
These emissions are set against the carbon stored in products and the carbon held in the forest. The result is the industrial half of the whole system balance described in the forest carbon cycles overview. Journal papers and presentation slides behind this work are listed under publications.