Methodology for carbon footprint in forestry findings and ways of improvement

Abstract

Classic methodologies for carbon footprint are made for conventional companies or territories. None is well adapted for entire sectors or parts of sectors, which usually contain numerous and very different companies, such in the forestry. In this work, we proposed a methodology to count GHG emissions for forestry in a region, from harvest preparation to the entrance of industries. We divided forestry in three steps: harvesting, forwarding and transport, for which we listed each GHG emitting process. Then, we applied this methodology in the Auvergne region (FR) and estimated GHG emissions to bring one cubic meter of wood to the industry to an average of 4.7 kgCe; with each step (harvesting, forwarding and transport) causing around a third of it. We also estimated related emissions for different types of wood (timber, industrial wood and fuelwood) and finally, we proposed 32 recommendations to reduce GHG emissions in forestry. © 2010 IFIP.