Abstract
This chapter introduces some of the strengths and weaknesses of forest products, for example relating to renewability, biodegradability, climate change, biodiversity loss and water cycle disturbances, indirect land use and land use change. It is explained how the complexities surrounding these topics are key reasons for why environmental assessments are needed to ensure that forest products replacing non-forest products actually reduce environmental impact.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agostini A, Giuntilo J, Boulamanti A (2013) Carbon accounting of forest bioenergy: conclusions and recommendations from a critical literature review. JRC Technical Reports, Report EUR 25354 EN. http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/bf-ca/sites/bf-ca/files/files/documents/eur25354en_online-final.pdf. Accessed Dec 2014
Ahlgren S, Björklund A, Ekman A, Karlsson H, Berlin J, Börjesson P (2013) LCA of biorefineries—identification of key issues and methodological recommendations. Report No 2013:25, f3 The Swedish Knowledge Centre for Renewable Transportation Fuels, Sweden. http://www.f3centre.se/sites/default/files/f3_report_2013-25_lca_biorefineries_140710.pdf. Accessed Dec 2014
Bergman R, Puettmann M, Taylor A, Skog KE (2014) The carbon impacts of wood products. Forest Prod J 64(7–8):220–231
Berndes G, Ahlgren S, Börjesson P, Cowie A (2013) Bioenergy and land use change—state of the art. Wiley Interdisc Rev Energy Environ 2:282–303
Buyle M, Braet J, Audenaert A (2013) Life cycle assessment in the construction sector: a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 26:379–388
Coyne R (2005) Wicked problems revisited. Des Stud 26:5–17
Derraik JGB (2002) The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a review. Mar Pollut Bull 44:842–852
EU (2007) Brussels European Council 8/9 March 2007: presidency conclusions, 7224/1/07 REV 1. http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%207224%202007%20REV%201. Accessed Jan 2015
Frøiland Jensen JE, Pipatti R (2002) CH4 emissions from solid waste disposal. In: Background papers—IPCC expert meetings on good practice guidance and uncertainty management in national greenhouse gas inventories. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan
Handler RM, Shonnard DR, Lautala P, Abbas D, Srivastava A (2014) Environmental impacts of roundwood supply chain options in Michigan: life-cycle assessment of harvest and transport stages. J Clean Prod 76:64–73
Hertel T, Alla G, Andrew J, O’Hare M, Plevin R, Kammen D (2010) Global land use and greenhouse gas emissions impacts of U.S. maize ethanol: estimating market-mediated responses. Bioscience 60:223–231
Kane ES, Vogel JG (2009) Patterns of total ecosystem carbon storage with changes in soil temperature in boreal black spruce forests. Ecosystems 12(2):322–335
Kauppi PE, Rautiainen A, Korhonen KT, Lehtonen A (2010) Changing stock of biomass carbon in a boreal forest over 93 years. Forest Ecol Manage 259(7):1239–1244
Kløverpris JH, Mueller S (2013) Baseline time accounting: considering global land use dynamics when estimating the climate impact of indirect land use change caused by biofuels. Int J Life Cycle Assess 18:319–330
Kurz WA, Stintson G, Rampley G (2008) Could increased boreal forest ecosystem productivity offset carbon losses from increased disturbances? Philos Trans R Soc B Biol Sci 363:2261–2269
Lambin EF, Meyfroidt P (2011) Global land use change, economic globalization, and the looming land scarcity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108(9):3465–3472
Lou XF, Nair J (2009) The impact of landfilling and composting on greenhouse gas emissions—a review. Bioresour Technol 100(16):3792–3798
Mantau U, Saal U, Prins K, Steierer F, Lindner M, Verkerk H et al (2010) Real potential for changes in growth and use of EU forests. EUwood Final report, Hamburg
Miner RA, Abt RC, Bowyer JL, Buford MA, Malmsheimer RW, O´Laughlin J et al (2014) Forest carbon accounting considerations in US bioenergy policy. J Forest 112(6):591–606
Nabuurs G-J, Pussinen A, van Brusselen J, Schelhaas MJ (2007) Future harvesting pressure on European forests. Eur J Forest Res 126:391–400
Nabuurs G-J, Lindner M, Verkerk PJ, Gunia K, Deda P, Michalak R, Grassi G (2013) First signs of carbon sink saturation in European forest biomass. Nature Clim Change 3:792–796
Narodoslawsky M, Niederl-Schmidinger A, Halasz L (2008) Utilising renewable resources economically: new challenges and chances for process development. J Clean Prod 16:164–170
Plevin RJ, O’Hare M, Jones AD, Torn MS, Gibbs HK (2010) The greenhouse gas emissions from market-mediated land use change are uncertain, but potentially much greater than previously estimated. Environ Sci Technol 44:8015–8021
Rockström J, Falkenmark M, Lannerstad M, Karlberg L (2012) The planetary water drama: dual task of feeding humanity and curbing climate change. Geophys Res, Lett 39
Searchinger T, Heimlich R, Houghton RA, Dong F, Elobeid A, Fabiosa J et al (2008) Use of U.S. croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through emission from land-use change. Science 319:1238–1240
Taylor A (2013) Wood is better. Wood Fiber Sci 45(1):1–2
Werner F, Richter K (2007) Wood building products in comparative LCA: a literature review. Int J Life Cycle Assess 12(7):470–479
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sandin, G., Peters, G.M., Svanström, M. (2016). Strengths and Weaknesses of Forest Products. In: Life Cycle Assessment of Forest Products. SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44027-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44027-9_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-44026-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44027-9
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)