Review of models for carbon accounting in harvested wood products

Abstract

Carbon storage in harvested wood products (HWPs) is seen as a measure to mitigate climate change. The increased use of long-life wood products, however, should be thoroughly analysed before being promoted as a climate mitigation strategy. The national carbon pool of HWPs is very dynamic, due to changing patterns of wood product consumption and trade. Carbon accounting models are a common tool for estimating and projecting carbon pools. The purpose of this study is to analyse and find the relevant features of existing models that are related to the carbon pool in HWPs. From the many existing models, we have selected several representative models. We have analysed these selected models in depth by looking at their features, components and application. The models have variable features, depending on their scope and the modelling objectives. Significant modelling components for assessing the climate change mitigation potential of wood products are often missing. For example, the material substitution effect in the construction sector is rarely quantified, even if it would result in a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, we propose modelling components for a scenario-based model capable of using country-specific data for major groups of HWPs that would allow improved assessments of the climate change mitigation potential of alternative forest resource utilisation scenarios.