News Finding: Through efficient harvesting and product use, more CO 2 is saved through the avoided emissions, materials, and wood energy than is lost from the harvested forest.
Paper Finding: With efficient product use and harvesting, more CO 2 is saved in the avoided emissions, products, and wood energy than is lost instantaneously from the harvested forest.
News Context: Wood-based construction consumes much less energy than concrete or steel construction. Through efficient harvesting and product use, more CO 2 is saved through the avoided emissions, materials, and wood energy than is lost from the harvested forest. "This study shows still another reason to appreciate forests -- and another reason to not let them be permanently cleared for agriculture," said Chadwick Oliver, the Pinchot Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies, director of the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry at F&ES and lead author of the new study.
Paper Context: A wide range of savings can be obtained depending on the specific wood building material, the nonwood product being replaced, the amount of harvest that can be used for products (merchantable logs), and the efficiency of burning the scrap-wood and unmerchantable logs for energy. With efficient product use and harvesting, more CO 2 is saved in the avoided emissions, products, and wood energy than is lost instantaneously from the harvested forest. Energy from burning the nonproduct scrap-wood and unmerchantable wood contributes an additional CO 2 and FF savings during the manufacture of wood products (Figure 5a-b) , but not as effectively as if this wood had been used to make most products.