Potential greenhouse gas benefits of transatlantic wood pellet trade
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15545748 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Puneet Dwivedi (0000-0001-6272-7473, University of Georgia, corresponding author), Madhu Khanna (0000-0003-4994-4451, Energy Biosciences Institute), Robert Bailis (0000-0002-4111-3760, Yale University), Adrián Ghilardi (0000-0002-7286-0670, Yale University) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 024007-024007 |
| Publication date | 2014-01-01 |
| 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 | 10.1088/1748-9326/9/2/024007 |
| OpenAlex | W2006891391 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 11 |
Power utility companies in the United Kingdom are using imported wood pellets from the southern region of the United States for electricity generation to meet the legally binding mandate of sourcing 15% of the nation’s total energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. This study ascertains relative savings in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for a unit of electricity generated using imported wood pellet in the United Kingdom under 930 different scenarios: three woody feedstocks (logging residues, pulpwood, and logging residues and pulpwood combined), two forest management choices (intensive and non-intensive), 31 plantation rotation ages (year 10 to year 40 in steps of 1 year), and five power plant capacities (20–100 MW in steps of 20 MW). Relative savings in GHG emissions with respect to a unit of electricity derived from fossil fuels in the United Kingdom range between 50% and 68% depending upon the capacity of power plant and rotation age. Relative savings in GHG emissions increase with higher power plant capacity. GHG emissions related to wood pellet production and transatlantic shipment of wood pellets typically contribute about 48% and 31% of total GHG emissions, respectively. Overall, use of imported wood pellets for electricity generation could help in reducing the United Kingdom’s GHG emissions. We suggest that future research be directed to evaluation of the impacts of additional forest management practices, changing climate, and soil carbon on the overall savings in GHG emissions related to transatlantic wood pellet trade
Agricultural economics · Economics · Electricity · Environmental protection · Fossil fuel · Geography · Greenhouse gas · Natural resource economics · Power station · Pulpwood · Renewable energy · Waste management · Bioenergy crop production and management · Engineering · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Environmental Science · Forest Biomass Utilization and Management · Ecology · Forestry
Transatlantic wood pellet trade demonstrates telecoupled benefits
When burning wood to generate energy makes climate sense
Nexus between food, energy, water, and forest ecosystems in the USA
Sustainable energy crop production
Forest carbon accounting methods and the consequences of forest bioenergy for national greenhouse gas emissions inventories
Not carbon neutral
Dynamic life cycle carbon and energy analysis for cross-laminated timber in the Southeastern United States
Is wood pellet-based electricity less carbon-intensive than coal-based electricity? It depends on perspectives, baselines, feedstocks, and forest management practices
Carbon savings with transatlantic trade in pellets
| Citations per year | 0.75 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2022 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |