CO2 Emissions from Forest Clear Cut in Road Contruction Project

Abstract

Major sources of CO 2 release caused by anthropogenic activities include fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and forest clear cut. The first two sources have been recognized as important in the construction industry; efforts have been made to find the causes of and the solutions to the emissions in the fuel combustion and cement production. However, the third major source-forest clear cut-has not yet received its deserving attention in the construction industry, although it may be one of the most important source of CO 2 release in various infrastructure projects such as road construction. This study presents a methodology to calculate the amount of CO 2 release from forest clear cut in a road construction project. An actual road construction in Korea was used as a case study for quantifying the CO 2 release. First, the forest area was divided to three categories (biomass carbon stocks, carbon stocks in dead organic matters, and carbon stocks in soils) depending on the source of CO 2 emission, as suggested by IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change).Second, for each category, a methodology was derived to estimate the CO 2 emission amount using the gain-loss analysis.Finally, the CO 2 emissions from the forest clear cut were compared to those from the fuel consumption by equipment usage in the same case to understand their relative magnitude in CO 2 emissions. The study results are expected to be used as a basis for development of CO 2 emission reduction strategies in road construction.