A Forest Industry Perspective on Carbon Accounting Eric D. Vance National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI)

The Forest Products Industry is Unique with Respect to Climate Change Fiber supply Elevated CO2 fertilization Climate change and variability Wildfire Carbon Forest and product sequestration Manufacturing emissions Biofuels and co-generation

Industry Climate Change Incentives Potential for carbon credits Anticipating and complying with new forest and energy policies Broader and longer-term interests Not well defined National and global competitiveness

The Forest-Based Industry Value Chain NCASI report to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (Miner and Lucier) Integrated perspective Insights not possible from corporate and national perspectives Value chain perspective: holistic rather than impact-focused

Climate Change Elements Across the Value Chain Carbon sequestration in forests, products Biomass as a fossil fuel substitute Manufacturing GHG emissions Combined heat and power (co-generation) GHG emissions (electricity consumption, transportation, recycling) Product substitution

Forests are Managed for Multiple Objectives Fiber, water, wildlife, soil Incentives for carbon? Maximizing C benefits not always consistent with higher priorities Optimize benefits Within constraints of other objectives Across landscapes and ownerships

Industry Perspective on Forest Carbon Sequestration Costs could exceed worth Build upon current inventory systems Efficiency Science-based default values Focus where significant change likely How much accuracy and precision can we afford?

Industry Perspective on Forest Carbon Sequestration Risk of focusing on standing forest carbon Ineffective Finite sequestration potential Shorter-term benefits compared to off-site factors Potentially counterproductive Shifts demand to non-wood substitutes

Intensively Managed Forests May reduce on-site storage Higher sequestration rates Coarse roots Reduced wildfire risk Greatest long-term sequestration potential with bioenergy and products

Carbon in Harvested Wood Products Small fraction (5%) of forest C stock (USEPA, 2003) Substantial and growing C sink (IPCC 2003; Winjum 1998) 30% of net sequestration from U.S. forests (up to 0.14 Gt yr -1) Similar to manufacturing emissions Relatively long residence times Decades to centuries for products in construction, landfills

Product Substitution 2004 CORRIM Report Consortium for Research on Renewable Materials Formed in 1994 by 15 research institutions Global Warming Potential of wood-frame home 26% lower than steel-frame 31% lower than concrete-frame

Bioenergy No new carbon to atmosphere Supplies > 50% of industry energy needs Competition for wood fiber Forest residues Co-generation Access to electric power grid Competes with policies favoring agricultural products and oil

Calculation Tools for Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Pulp and Paper Mills (http://www.ghgprotocol.org) Developed by NCASI for the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations Consistent with IPCC/WRI/WBC protocols CO2, CH3, N2O emissions Fossil fuel and biomass combustion, mill processes, landfills, wastewater treatment Indirect emissions from imports and exports of electricity or steam

Northern Institute of Applied Carbon Science (NIACS) USFS NC and NE Research Stations The Forest Carbon Consortium/NCASI Michigan Technological University Research Increase C sequestration in northern forests Improve accuracy of C measurements and accounting Facilitate information and technology transfer among scientists, policy makers, and stakeholders

Michael P. Spinney and Paul C. Van Deusen, NCASI Linda S. Heath and James E. Smith, USDA Forest Service http://ncasi.uml.edu/COLE

COLE: Carbon On Line Estimator Web-based interface to analyze forest carbon inventory data Flexible: Modular components can be independently modified (Java/HTML interface) Outputs: tables, charts, maps, pdf reports In it's 3rd year of development Flexibility is it's greatest strength – relatively large changes in any one component (such as a new analysis or an alternative data set) can be readily (does not imply easily!!) accommodated.

Summary: Forest Industry Perspective It’s in the long-term interest of the industry to be engaged in the carbon issue Need to balance multiple forest values Substantial off-site sequestration potential from increasing forest productivity Accounting must be transparent, credible An overly complex system will not succeed