Modelling Carbon Storage Dynamics of Wood Products with the HWP-RIAL Model—Projection of Particleboard End-of-Life Emissions under Different Climate Mitigation Measures

Éva Király (), Gábor Kis-Kovács, Zoltán Börcsök, Zoltán Kocsis, Gábor Németh, András Polgár and Attila Borovics
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Éva Király: Forest Research Institute, University of Sopron, Várkerület 30/A, H-9600 Sárvár, Hungary
Gábor Kis-Kovács: Hungarian Meteorological Service, Kitaibel Pál Street 1, H-1024 Budapest, Hungary
Zoltán Börcsök: Faculty of Wood Engineering and Creative Industries, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky E. Street 4, H-9400 Sopron, Hungary
Zoltán Kocsis: Faculty of Wood Engineering and Creative Industries, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky E. Street 4, H-9400 Sopron, Hungary
Gábor Németh: Faculty of Wood Engineering and Creative Industries, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky E. Street 4, H-9400 Sopron, Hungary
András Polgár: Faculty of Forestry, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky E. Street 4, H-9400 Sopron, Hungary
Attila Borovics: Forest Research Institute, University of Sopron, Várkerület 30/A, H-9600 Sárvár, Hungary

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: Harvested wood products (HWPs) store a significant amount of carbon, and their lifetime extension and appropriate waste management, recycling, and reuse can contribute remarkably to the achievement of climate goals. In this study, we examined the carbon storage and CO 2 and CH 4 emissions under different scenarios of 200,000 m 3 particleboard manufactured in 2020 by a hypothetical manufacturer. The scope of our investigation was to model the effects of a changing product lifetime, recycling rates and waste management practices on the duration of the carbon storage in wood panels and on their emission patterns. The aim of the investigation was to identify the most climate-friendly practices and find the combination of measures related to HWP production and waste management with the highest climate mitigation effect. We used the newly developed HWP-RIAL (recycling, incineration and landfill) model for the projections, which is a combination of two IPCC models parametrized for Hungarian circumstances and supplemented with a self-developed recycling and waste-route-selection submodule. The model runs covered the period 2020–2130. According to the results, the combined scenario with bundled mitigation activities had the largest mitigation potential in the modelled period, resulting in 32% emission reduction by 2050 as compared to the business-as-usual scenario. Amongst individual mitigation activities, increased recycling rates had the largest mitigation effect. The lifetime extension of particleboard can be a complementary measure to support climate mitigation efforts, along with the concept of cascade use and that of circular bioeconomy. Results showed that landfilled wood waste is a significant source of CH 4 emissions on the long term; thus, incineration of wood waste is preferable to landfilling.

Keywords: HWP; climate change mitigation; carbon storage; GHG emissions; climate goals; recycling; incineration; solid waste disposal; circular bioeconomy; Hungary (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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