PW06 Life-Cycle Assessment
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Wednesday
(PW087) The use of life-cycle inventory assessment to determine the carbon flux of Wisconsin's industrial roundwood production.
White, M1, Gower, S1, Ahl, D1, 1 University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
ABSTRACT- Carbon (C) fluxes associated with the production of Wisconsin's industrial roundwood, can be quantified using life-cycle inventory assessment methodology. When considering the development of a C budget for a forest system, life-cycle inventory (LCI) can ensure that the budget analyst is incorporating all of the industrial processes of a forest's production. LCI can also provide a framework for critique and comparisons between other C budget case studies. Through LCI results, areas of forest C mitigation and management opportunities can be located. With increasing comparisons of carbon budgets needed, it is necessary that a common comparable methodology be used. This poster presents a case study that compares greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequestrations through differing forest managements (state, national, and private non-industrial) and differing wood product production processes (dimensional lumber, paper, plywood) in Wisconsin. The boundaries of this study include harvesting, machinery use, transportation, mill processing, and transportation of primary product to secondary product warehouse. Data were collected from primary sources, and where not available; assumptions are made, based on conversion factors of previous studies. The boundaries do not include pre-harvest site management of forests, transportation of secondary product to consumer, and environmental factors other than GHG's. Results will be used to identify management opportunities to decrease GHG emissions and/or increase C sequestration within Wisconsin's forest product chains. Results will also be incorporated into forest C budget modeling for Wisconsin under anticipated future climate and atmospheric scenarios. Methods, preliminary results, and observations are presented in this poster.
Key words: Carbon Budget, Life-Cycle Inventory, Roundwood, Wisconsin Forests