CARBON ACCOUNTING IN THE FOREST-BASED INDUSTRY – MAXIMISING THE MITIGATION POTENTIAL OF WOOD PRODUCTS IN SLOVENIA | MAXIWOOD | Proyecto | Ficha informativa | H2020 | CORDIS

Descripción del proyecto

La ecologización del sector de la industria forestal eslovena

El almacenamiento de carbono en los bosques es una opción para compensar los gases liberados por la quema de combustibles fósiles y abordar el calentamiento global. En el proyecto MAXIWOOD, financiado con fondos europeos, se examinará la reestructuración de las industrias forestales hacia productos que ofrezcan la ventaja del almacenamiento de carbono a largo plazo en los denominados productos de madera recolectada. El equipo del proyecto se centrará en Eslovenia, donde los bosques representan el 58 % de la superficie terrestre y son increíblemente importantes desde el punto de vista ecológico, económico y social. En concreto, se analizará el dióxido de carbono emitido y capturado por la industria forestal en Eslovenia a través del secuestro de carbono, la fabricación, el tratamiento al final de su vida útil y la sustitución de otros productos. Los resultados guiarán la formulación de políticas del sector forestal en Eslovenia y otros países.

Objetivo

Forest-based industries are responsible for about 3% of the world’s total CO 2 eq. emissions and represent one of the few readily available and effective ways of capturing atmosphere’s carbon dioxide. Restructuring forest industries towards products which offer the benefit of long-term carbon storage in so-called harvested wood products (HWP) has an important and underexplored mitigation effect for global warming. In Slovenia, forests represent 58 % of the landcover and are highly important ecologically, socially and economically. Despite the known carbon mitigation potential of wood and the high untapped harvesting capacity as well as the potential for a revival of wood industry, strategic documents do not address the importance of the forest industry as means of offsetting carbon emissions. In order to maximize the potential carbon sink effect of Slovenian forest industry, it is crucial to understand the product/resource interconnections within the value chain and where the carbon is stored/released. Making use and further upgrading candidates’ current skills in modelling and LCA, MAXIWOOD aims to analyse the CO 2 emitted and sequestered by the forest based industry in Slovenia through carbon sequestration, manufacturing, end-of-life treatment and substitution of other products. This will in facilitate an identification of the opportunities for the Slovenian forest industry to improve its carbon footprint and increase
competitiveness. Existing national and international studies are largely based on 2013 IPCC guidelines for carbon accounting and are not sufficiently detailed to be translated into policy measures. MAXIWOOD will build further on the existing methodologies in order provide results detailed enough to inform effective policy making. The developed methodology will be applicable in other countries in Europe, increasing the competitiveness of the forest sector and mitigating global warming internationally.