DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz1t
title: Options to improve the carbon balance of the harvested wood products sector in four EU countries

description: Harvested Wood Products (HWP) may contribute to climate change mitigation
 by storing carbon and by replacing energy-intensive materials and fossil
 energy, reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. However, when assessing
 improved HWP utilizations, interactions between wood use pathways, the
 carbon stock dynamics, and the resulting effect on the GHG balance are
 still not well understood. This research aims to assess the carbon
 sequestration effects of alternative wood product utilizations in four EU
 countries. We conducted a material flow analysis of wood uses in France,
 Finland, Germany, and Spain for 2017 taking into account national
 production, imports, and exports. Then, we quantified the future dynamics
 of carbon stock in the HWP through time, assuming the same as in 2017
 input and ignoring the forest sink. We then ran six alternative scenarios:
 two energy-focused (Energy, Energy+), two material-focused (Cascading,
 Material), one with extended half-life of the wood products (HL) and one
 as business as usual (BAU). For the simulation period (2020–2050), the
 Material scenario leads to the highest mitigation benefits with a
 cumulative HWP net carbon accumulation of -502 Mt CO2 for Germany, -290 Mt
 CO2 for France, -118 Mt CO2 for Spain, and -116 Mt CO2 for Finland over
 the 30 years. The Energy+ scenario with an increase in wood usage for
 bioenergy generates a loss of the HWP pool of 351, 80, 77, and 6 Mt CO2
 for the same countries, not accounting for energy substitution effects.
 Overall, our results suggest that the HWP carbon stock can be increased in
 the short-medium term by prioritising the use of wood for material
 purposes, while maintaining constant harvest. The HWP mitigation potential
 differed greatly according to national wood industry characteristics.
 Hence, tailoring the HWP mitigation strategies to the specific
 characteristics of the national wood chain would enhance the HWP climate
 benefits.
description: # Options to improve the carbon balance of the harvested wood products
 sector in four EU countries
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz1t](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz1t) All the data utilized in this study are openly accessible through the online dataset specified in the readme file and the loaded file. The data retrieved from the online dataset underwent processing using Microsoft Excel. A comprehensive methodology description can be found in the Material and Methods section. ## Description of the data and file structure In the "Sharing/Access Information" section, you can locate the following information: * The first link grants access to Forest Product Statistics, encompassing Forestry Production and Trade, as well as Forestry Trade Flows. We've utilized data from Forestry Production and Trade, where you can customize your selection of items, countries, and years. After applying your filters, you can download the data in Microsoft Excel format. * The second link directs you to input and output coefficients specific to the wood-based industry. * For insights into wood use in Spain, particularly for energetic purposes, you can refer to the third link. This data is absent from the Journal of Wood Science and Engineering (JWEE). * The fourth link is your gateway to the JWEE, offering downloads for various years of data. * Finally, in the last link, you can find the *Forest product conversion factors.* In addition, we also uploaded the MF diagrams and the original data of the main figure. ## Sharing/Access information This is a section for linking to other ways to access the data, and for linking to sources the data is derived from, if any. Data was derived from the following sources: * https://www.fao.org/forestry/statistics/84922/en/ * http://data.europa.eu/89h/a1f94d36-748d-48ef-81bd-f936c64e5800 * https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/biodiversidad/estadisticas/ * https://unece.org/forests/joint-wood-energy-enquiry * UNECE. (2020). *Forest product conversion factors*. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4060/ca7952en%0AThe ## Code/Software The Python code for Fig.3 is uploaded. Full code for the model can be made available upon request. ## File overview A) hwp\_emissions\_removals\_finland.xlsx B) hwp\_emissions\_removals\_france.xlsx C) hwp\_emissions\_removals\_germany.xlsx D) hwp\_emissions\_removals\_spain.xlsx ## DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION hwp\_emissions\_removals\_XXcountryXXX .xlsx For each case study, you will find a complete time series dataset containing the values of HWP emission removals for each scenario. The "years" column represents the time frame used for the simulation (1990 - 2050). * **"Historical" :** Historical input values from FAOSTAT for the period 1990-2020, where we applied constant allocation values based on the wood flow distribution from 2017 (Figure 3). * **"GHG\_Inventories":** Official country statistics reported in GHG inventories ([https://unfccc.int/ghg-inventories-annex-i-parties/2021](https://unfccc.int/ghg-inventories-annex-i-parties/2021)). The previous two data series present data only from 1990 to 2020 since they refer to the past. The remaining columns are scenarios, meaning they have data only starting from 2020. In each scenario, we assumed a constant harvest, meaning that the input remains stable throughout the simulation period. * **"BAU"** Scenario\*\*:\*\* Business as usual, where we kept the allocation and input values constant. * **"Half-lives"** Scenario: Corresponds to increased half-life values by 10% (half-life value of 38.5 years, the WBP of 27.5 years, and Paper of 2.2 years). * **"Cascade"** Scenario: We gradually increased the portion of recovered paper and recovered wood by 4% points per year for 5 years, reaching +20% points in 2025. After 2025, we kept both at +20% points relative to the baseline. * **"Material"** Scenario: Based on the Cascade scenario, but in addition, we redirected part of the wood assigned to fuelwood to the sawmill industry instead. * **"Energy"** Scenario\*\*:\*\* We redirected the entire amount of by-products and post-consumer wood to bioenergy generation. * **"Energy+"** Scenario: The same as the Energy scenario, but we also redirected 50% of industrial roundwood to the bioenergy sector. All values are in MtCO2. Negative values represent removals, while positive values represent emissions.