Carbon footprint and sustainability assessment of wood utilisation in Hungary

Polgár, András (2023) Carbon footprint and sustainability assessment of wood utilisation in Hungary. ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY, 2023 (Published: 12 July 2023). pp. 1-25. ISSN 1387-585X

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Abstract

Forest management allows the sustained removal of significant amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Within different activities in the forest, wood utilisation has the most significant man-made environmental impact which affects the carbon balance, which is important to know, to be able to accurately identify its role in climate change. This study aims to determine the carbon footprint of logging during utilisation based on scenario analysis in national default and theoretical assortment structures (11 additional scenarios for each forest stand) within the entire life cycle of raw wood products. Based on a common functional unit (100 m 3 of cut wood), a comparative environmental life cycle analysis (LCA) for intermediate and final cutting was performed in shortwood forestry work systems in beech ( Fagus spp. ), oak ( Quercus spp. ), spruce ( Picea spp. ), black locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia ), and hybrid poplar ( Populus x euramericana ) stands in Hungary. After obtaining the results, the present study calculated the carbon footprint order for the utilisation life cycle phases and the entire tree utilisation life cycle. The distribution of absolute carbon footprint (ACF: considered emitted CO 2 from fossil and biotic origins together) by final cutting exhibited the following order: hybrid poplar (6%)—spruce (8%)—beech (26%)—oak (27%)—black locust (33%). The ACF ranking for the whole technological life cycle (intermediate and final cutting, 400 m3 of cut wood) was hybrid poplar– spruce—oak—beech–black locust. The carbon footprint rankings of the studied stands were expanded to the national level.

Tudományterület / tudományág

agricultural sciences > forestry and wildlife management
natural sciences > environmental science

Faculty

Not relevant

Institution

Soproni Egyetem

Item Type:	Article
SWORD Depositor:	Teszt Sword
Depositing User:	Csaba Horváth
Identification Number:	MTMT:34062235
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2023 08:34
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2023 08:34
URI:	http://publicatio.uni-sopron.hu/id/eprint/2761

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