Sequester or substitute—Consequences of increased production of wood based energy on the carbon balance in Finland

Climate Change Mitigation Potential in Boreal Forests: Impacts of Management, Harvest Intensity and Use of Forest Biomass to Substitute Fossil Resources

“…However, the decreasing effect of NEE on mitigation potential could not be totally compensated by the use of default displacement factors in lower stocking and/or earlier final felling (at 22 cm) (see also Kallio et al [3]). The use of higher displacement factors favored earlier final fellings and also use of energy biomass in substitution, but they decreased the climate benefits from maintaining higher stocking.…”

“…This would require a substantial reduction in CO 2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the coming decades [2]. One of the pathways towards the reduction in CO 2 is forest-based climate change mitigation including sequestering and storing of carbon and use of harvested biomass in substituting fossil-intensive materials and fossil fuels [2][3][4]. Accordingly, the European Union (EU) policy of climate change mitigation is to raise the share of renewable energy to 27% and 55% of the total energy consumption by 2030 and 2050, respectively [5,6].…”

“…Besides, a large share of energy biomass that is harvested directly from forest stands (i.e., logging residues and small-sized trees in energy wood thinnings) is being used in power generation and district heating [9]. In Finland, the annual harvest removals for timber and energy biomass were 55 and 8 million m 3 , respectively in 2013 [13], constituting 63% of the annual total volume growth of the forests. However, to increase the output of Finnish bioeconomy, the level of biomass harvests is aimed to be increased by 10-30 million m 3 in the near future [14].…”

“…Instead, the amount of harvested timber can be increased in thinnings by leaving lower stocking than recommended [18], but this may decrease carbon sequestration of forests [19,20]. However, increased harvests from thinnings and final fellings may increase the potential of wood-based products and energy biomass to substitute fossil-intensive materials (e.g., concrete, steel and plastic) and fuels [3,12,21] and economic benefits as well [22]. The capability of the management measures to enhance carbon sequestration and amount of harvestable biomass within a certain time period will also depend on the initial forest structure [23][24][25][26][27].…”

Energy wood from forests—stakeholder perceptions in five European countries

“…This synergy is a side-objective of renewable energy policies and-especially in rural areas-remains an important aim of enforced energy wood production and use [10,23,50,56]. Different studies support the assumption that energy wood production and use can have a positive influence on the development of rural economies and employment [57][58][59][60]. The importance of tapping the potential of this synergy is emphasised in Spain where the recent economic crisis had the most severe impacts on labour markets compared to the other countries [61], and where energy wood production could thus be promoted for its positive effect on employment and moreover for its potential synergies with fire prevention.…”