The Greenhouse Footprint of Wood Production in NSW

Fabiano Ximenes

Industry and Investment NSW

CCRSPI – February 2011

Weighing 15-year old Radiata tree

Presentation Outline

Background

Carbon in wood products / environmental benefits

Emissions: harvest and log transport, manufacture and transport markets

Net greenhouse impact: NSW

Implications

Life Cycle Assessment

Project background Climate Action Grant Project (2006-2010) Project Objectives

* Development of an energy budget for the main types of wood products used in the NSW building sector

* Quantification of the GHG impacts of waste disposal options for wood and paper products in NSW* Quantification of the rate and extent of decay of wood and paper products in landfills in NSW

Photosynthesis process

(www.butler.edu)

To produce 0.65 g C – 1 MJSolar power required (high quality sites)

Consumption of wood in dwellings in Australia

Softwoods

(M m3)

Hardwoods

(M m3)

Softwoods

(M m3)

Hardwoods

(M m3)Detached Houses 1.6 0.21 2.3 0.28Other dwellings 0.14 0.04 0.2 0.04Alt. and additions 1.1 0.48 1.5 0.46Total 2.84 0.73 4 0.78

2007 2018-22

Dwelling type

Carbon in wood products in dwellings

Source: BIS Shrapnel; Sawn Timber in Australia 2008-2022

Wood products in houses

Roof frames and trusses: 90% Softwood

Wall frames: 75% Softwood; 9% Steel

Flooring: 78% Particleboard; 6% Hardwood

Decking: 40% Hardwood, 45% Softwood

Window frames: 48% Aluminium; 27% Softwood; 12% Hardwood

Greenhouse footprint of wood

Carbon is sequestered in forests

Wood products: continued storage in service and in landfills

Use of processing residues: energy or feedstock for composite materials

Substitution benefits

Energy and GHG Budget

insert text here• Series of studies – sawmills, MDF and particleboard plants, wall and frame manufacturers

• Energy audit: including energy required during harvest, transport to the mill, manufacture and installation

• Renewable versus non-renewable energy

• Aim: use in building rating schemes (requiring change of focus) and Life Cycle Assessment

Energy consumption drivers Plant capacity and age Rate of plant utilisation Manufacturing process and level of integration Site layout Overall efficiency Degree of mechanization of materials handling Wood species, size and moisture Product type and mix Degree of finishing Air versus kiln-drying and climate Energy prices

Components of the assessment Harvest and log transport: Total fuel consumption of harvest machinery, log volumes transported,distances between the forest and processing mills and total fuel used inhaulage.

ManufactureVolumes of logs processed, electricty and diesel used in the mill, energyrequired for drying, production breakdown with tracking of total massand fate of residues produced, packaging and any other additionalsignificant inputs (e.g. glue in panel production – including shippingfrom overseas if required).

Transport to the marketDetailed information on distances to markets, average truck loads andfuel efficiencies of transport, as well as transport of residues.

Wood-processing facilities Processing

facility Wood type Volume

processed (‘000 m3)

Volume produced (‘000 m3)

Data source

Sawmill 1 Radiata pine 600-700 200-250 Site-specific Sawmill 2 Radiata pine 250-300 100-150 Site-specific Sawmill 3 Radiata pine 100-150 20-30 Site-specific

Sawmill 4 Primarily

blackbutt 80-100 15-20 Site-specific

Sawmill 5 Mixed hardwoods

10-15 4-6 Site-specific

Sawmill 6 Mixed hardwoods

< 5 1.3 Site-specific

MDF (medium-density fibreboard)

Radiata pine 400 260 Site-specific plus literature

Particleboard Radiata pine 300 220 Site-specific plus literature

Plywood mill Softwoods 50-60 25-30 Site-specific Truss and frame Radiata pine 2-2.5 2-2.5 Site-specific Total 1915 910

Greenhouse and energy footprint of wood production

Facility

Tonnes CO2-e/

tonne Tonnes CO2-e/ m3 GJ/m3 GJ/tonne

Particleboard 0.861 0.628 5.371 7.358

Plywood mill 0.810 0.583 4.517 6.273

MDF (medium-density fibreboard) 0.765 0.383 4.613 9.225

BB Sawmill 4 0.611 0.536 5.312 6.057

RP Sawmill 2 0.510 0.255 4.493 8.986

RP Sawmill 1 0.485 0.242 4.163 8.326

MHwd Sawmill 5 0.472 0.283 2.293 3.821

RP Sawmill 3 0.196 0.133 3.191 4.703

MHwd Sawmill 6 0.193 0.185 1.669 1.744

Truss and frame 0.179 0.093 1.200 2.317

Mean 0.545 0.359 3.958 6.277

Standard deviation 0.245 0.182 1.299 1.744

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

G J / t C O 2 / t G J / t C O 2 / t G J / t C O 2 / t G J / t C O 2 / t

S W D S H W D S E W P s F & T

T r a n s p o r t t o m a r k e t

M a n u f a c t u r e

H a r v e s t a n d t r a n s p o r t

Greenhouse and energy footprint of wood production – cont.

Softwoods

Mill 1 Mill 2 Mill 3 Mill 1 Mill 2 Mill 3

% CO2 % CO2 % CO2 % GJ % GJ % GJ

Electricity (includes kiln and boiler) 33.4 51.1 53.0 4.7 10.1 10.2

Transport of products 23.9 18.5 17.4 13.3 14.4 13.2

Transport of residues 16.0 5.7 11.4 8.9 4.4 8.6

Diesel-mill 11.0 2.3 3.5 6.3 1.8 2.6

Log transport 5.6 15.9 6.7 3.1 12.3 5.0

Log harvest 5.0 4.3 5.7 2.8 3.3 4.3

Transport of preservatives 2.5 0.3 0.3 1.4 0.3 0.2

Kiln - residues 2.0 1.3 1.3 58.2 52.4 54.1

Packaging 0.6 0.7 0.6 1.3 0.9 1.7

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

GHG and energy footprint of wood production

Hardwoods

Mill 1 Mill 2 Mill 3 Mill 1 Mill 2 Mill 3

% CO2 % CO2 % CO2 % GJ % GJ % GJ

Electricity 49.2 52.8 44.4 16.8 22.1 16.7

Transport of residues 17.6 1.1 3.3 23.7 1.7 4.8

Log harvest 13.9 16.4 18.6 18.6 27.0 27.4

Log transport 8.0 11.7 19.8 10.7 19.2 29.2

Transport of products 5.7 9.0 5.5 7.6 14.8 8.1

Diesel-mill 5.0 8.1 8.0 6.7 13.4 11.8

Packaging 0.4 1.0 0.4 2.0 1.8 2.0

Kiln 0.2 0.0 0.0 13.8 0.0 0.0

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

GHG and energy footprint of wood production

Activity

Particleboard MDF Plywood

% CO2 % GJ % CO2 % GJ % CO2 % GJ

Electricity 45.9 20.1 61.4 24.3 65.4 18.4

Kiln 42.3 68.9 27.3 65.7 0.7 44.0

Transport of products 2.6 4.5 2.5 3.9 10.9 12.1

Log transport 2.5 4.3 2.6 4.1 2.0 2.2

Log harvest 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.6 3.1 3.4

Diesel-mill 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.5 2.1 2.4

Transport of residues 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 6.0 6.6

Packaging 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.4

Other 5.9 0.5 5.3 0.4 9.6 10.6

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

GHG and energy footprint of wood production

Activity

Softwoods Hardwoods

% CO2 % GJ % CO2 % GJ

Electricity (includes kiln and boiler) 45.8 8.3 48.8 18.5

Transport of products 19.9 13.6 6.7 10.2

Transport of residues 11.1 7.3 7.3 10.1

Log transport 9.4 6.8 13.1 19.7

Diesel-mill 5.6 3.6 7.0 10.6

Log harvest 5.0 3.5 16.3 24.4

Kiln - residues 1.5 54.9 0.1 4.6

Transport of preservatives 1.0 0.6 0.0 0.0

Packaging 0.6 1.3 0.6 1.9

Total 100 100 100 100

GHG and energy footprint of wood production

3 9 3 3 1 1

1 4 5 1 2 8

1 5 3 0 1

1 6 3 3 9 3

1 2 8 2 7 8

S o f t w o o d s

H a r d w o o d s

P ly w o o d

M D F

P a r t ic le b o a r d

Greenhouse emissions from wood production in NSW in 2009 (t CO2-e)

-180

-130

-80

-30

20

70

120E

mis

sion

s

LTS

Em

issi

ons

LTS

Em

issi

ons

LTS

SWDS HWDS EWPs

kt C

O2-

e /

tGHG emissions and long-term storage

- 2 2 4 9 8 6 8

- 1 5 4 9 4 4

- 4 7 6 5 8 7

- 1 6 2 4 3 1

- 4 4 1 5 0S o f t w o o d s

H a r d w o o d s

P ly w o o d

M D F

P a r t i c le b o a r d

Long-term storage from wood production in NSW in 2009 (t CO2-e)

Summary GHG emissions from wood-processing facilities generally low

GHG emissions from EWPs typically higher than for sawmills

Energy footprint much greater than greenhouse footprint

Manufacture is typically the biggest contributor to overall GHG emissions

Electricity (drying) is the main contributor to GHG emissions in manufacture

Summary – cont. Long term carbon storage in wood products: easily outweighs

emissions

When LTS is factored in: annual production of wood products results in storage of 3 Mt CO2-e

Results highlight the importance of considering whole of life emissions and storage

Implications: Building rating schemes / Life Cycle Assessments

Acknowledgements

This project was financially assisted by the NSW Government, through its Climate Action Program.

The cooperation from all wood-processing facilities involved in the study was greatly appreciated.

Machins

Mford

Mford

ANZSICcode Industry ClassificationEmissions(Mt CO2-e)Change in emissions(%)1990 2007 2008 2007 to20081990 to2008

23-4 Wood, paper and printing 1.7 2.5 2.4 -3.5 43.4

Greenhouse benefit – Life cycle perspective

From the log dump to the rubbish dump

Forest Sawmill

62%

Dressing

47%

Wall frame

44%

In service

42%

Landfill

Australia’s GHG Emissions By Sector

Source: DCC 2008 Total emissions: 559 Mt CO2-e.

Emissions per capita: 1990: 32.2 t CO2-e

2005: 27.6 t CO2-e

Wood – environmental benefits Renewable resource

Carbon storage

Low energy-intensity in manufacture

Processing residues used to generate energy

Substitution benefits

Energy breakdown

Kiln-drying may account for 70-90% of the sawmilling energy

Process Energy usage (MJ/kg)

Planting/tending 1.0

Harvesting 0.61

Transport to mill 0.99

Sawmilling 1.1

Drying 8.5

Planning 0.29

Transport 0.73

Packaging 0.07

Total 13.3

Carbon Trading

Time to move on from the forest!

Substitution effect

Greenhouse gases emitted in the manufacture of building materials used in a range of construction components for a single storey house in Sydney, Australia

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Floor structure Floor covering Wall frame Roof frame Windows

Construction component

To

nn

es

; C

O2-e

qu

iv.

Steel sub-frame

Concrete slab

Timber sub-frame

Ceramic tiles

Hardwood T&G

Brick

Steel

Softwood

Steel

Timber

Aluminium

Timber

44 years in landfill

Carbon Storage in Australia's Forest Plantations, Wood Products in Service and in Landfill

Sink in Australian Plantation Forests (KP)

DCC 2008

Forest Residues

Sawlogs

Other commercial

logs 8% C

Board products

Pulp / Mulch

Bioenergy

Burnt – waste

Life Cycle of Wood Products