Carbon sequestered in UK forest products and wood based panels in construction: helping to meet UK's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. (August 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Robson, D.; Sadler, P.; Newman, G.
• Is Part Of: International wood products journal. Volume 5:Number 3(2014)
• Page Start: 139
• Page End: 145
• Publication Date: 2014-08
• Subjects: Wood -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 620.1205
• DOI: 10.1179/2042645314Y.0000000071
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2042-6445

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>The United Kingdom emitted 628 Mt CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent (CO<sub>2e</sub>) as greenhouse gases in 2008. United Kingdom (UK) policy is to decrease these emissions to 154 Mt by 2050. This paper investigates the role that wood construction products and wood-based panels may play in mitigating these greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, we have concentrated on production and consumption in 2005: all solid wood products and wood based panels consumed in the UK in 2005 contained almost 16 Mt CO<sub>2e</sub>. Using established international methodologies and the 'stock change approach' to carbon storage, the net increase in CO<sub>2e</sub> stored in all UK wood products in 2005 was calculated to be 7·1 Mt CO<sub>2e</sub>. Applying the newer UNFCCC 'production approach' gave a net increase in CO<sub>2e</sub> stored in wood based panels and solid wood of 3·4 Mt CO<sub>2e</sub> in 2005, approximately half of this storage was in wood based panels.</p> <p>The focus of previous UK studies of carbon in construction has been new housing. We estimate that only 10% of CO<sub>2e</sub> contained in all UK solid wood and wood based panel products consumed went into new housing in 2005. We have modelled the storage of CO<sub>2e</sub> in solid wood and wood based panels for other construction sectors and used this to model changes in construction methods: if current trends in UK housing construction methods continue and are extended to other construction sectors, there is the potential to increase the annual increment of CO<sub>2e</sub> stored in wood products in construction from 9 Mt CO<sub>2e</sub> to 14 Mt CO<sub>2e</sub> (more than 2% of the total annual UK greenhouse gas emissions).</p> </abstract>