Does replacing coal with wood lower CO 2 emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15544723 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John D Sterman (0000-0001-7476-6760, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, corresponding author), Lori Siegel (0000-0002-5734-8345), Juliette N Rooney‐Varga (0000-0001-7102-6919, University of Massachusetts Lowell) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 015007-015007 |
| Publication date | 2018-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/aaa512 |
| OpenAlex | W2782221088 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 20 |
| References cited | 26 |
Bioenergy is booming as nations seek to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union declared biofuels to be carbon-neutral, triggering a surge in wood use. But do biofuels actually reduce emissions? A molecule of CO 2 emitted today has the same impact on radiative forcing whether it comes from coal or biomass. Biofuels can only reduce atmospheric CO 2 over time through post-harvest increases in net primary production (NPP). The climate impact of biofuels therefore depends on CO 2 emissions from combustion of biofuels versus fossil fuels, the fate of the harvested land and dynamics of NPP. Here we develop a model for dynamic bioenergy lifecycle analysis. The model tracks carbon stocks and fluxes among the atmosphere, biomass, and soils, is extensible to multiple land types and regions, and runs in 1s, enabling rapid, interactive policy design and sensitivity testing. We simulate substitution of wood for coal in power generation, estimating the parameters governing NPP and other fluxes using data for forests in the eastern US and using published estimates for supply chain emissions. Because combustion and processing efficiencies for wood are less than coal, the immediate impact of substituting wood for coal is an increase in atmospheric CO 2 relative to coal. The payback time for this carbon debt ranges from 44-104 years after clearcut, depending on forest type-assuming the land remains forest. Surprisingly, replanting hardwood forests with fast-growing pine plantations raises the CO 2 impact of wood because the equilibrium carbon density of plantations is lower than natural forests. Further, projected growth in wood harvest for bioenergy would increase atmospheric CO 2 for at least a century because new carbon debt continuously exceeds NPP. Assuming biofuels are carbon neutral may worsen irreversible impacts of climate change before benefits accrue. Instead, explicit dynamic models should be used to assess the climate impacts of biofuels
Bio-energy with carbon capture and storage · Bioenergy · Biofuel · Biomass (ecology · Carbon neutrality · Climate change mitigation · Coal · Fossil fuel · Greenhouse gas · Land use · Land use, land-use change and forestry · Waste management · Bioenergy crop production and management · Engineering · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Environmental Science · Forest Management and Policy · Ecology
Energy justice in the developing world
Energy communities in a transnational deliberative framework
Generating Multiple Benefits from Forests by Producing Value-Added Products
Burning forests
Equity in allocating carbon dioxide removal quotas
Does wood bioenergy help or harm the climate
Global wood harvest is sufficient for climate-friendly transitions to timber cities
Confronting governance challenges of the resource nexus through reflexivity
To continue to burn something? Technological, economic and political path dependencies in district heating in Helsinki, Finland
Exploring the import allocation of wood pellets
Adaptation and Carbon Removal
Carbon neutrality should not be the end goal
Evaluating the hourly emissions intensity of the US electricity system
Climate and air pollution impacts of generating biopower from forest management residues in California
Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO 2 emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’
Is wood pellet-based electricity less carbon-intensive than coal-based electricity? It depends on perspectives, baselines, feedstocks, and forest management practices
Focus on the role of forests and soils in meeting climate change mitigation goals
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Climate mitigation forestry—temporal trade-offs
Impact of biopower generation on eastern US forests
| Unique citing works | 20 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,5 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 20 |