Environmental indicators for sustainable forestry and forest industry EffFibre & EffNet Seminar 20.11.2012 VTT: Helena Wessman, Tuomas Helin, Mari Ovaskainen, Tiina Pajula, Kim Pingoud, Elina Saarivuori, Sampo Soimakallio, Laura Sokka Metla: Samuli Launiainen, Leena Finer, Jari Hynynen SYKE: Anne Holma Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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Aims and research needs Aim is to increase environmental competitiveness of forest industry products and fibre-based raw material. Scientific grounded evaluation for sustainability indicators that • are forestry specific • are relevant to bring out the environmental benefits and renewability in fibre- based product’s value chain (domestic and general level) Develop tools for environmental communication (case studies) Networking: Combining the Finnish forestry and environmental competence (VTT, Metla, SYKE, industrial partners) Data exchange: MOTTI, Metla’s hydrological models, LCA and footprints, biodiversity data Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
21/11/2012
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Environmental Performance in the context of EffFibre WP2 ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE DATA, METHODOLOGY
CARBON FOOTPRINT WATER FOOTPRINT LAND USE BIODIVERSITY
CASE STUDIES
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ECONOMICS WOOD QUALITY
TASK 1. SCENARIOS FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT OPTIONS
TASK 5: DISSEMINATION Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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Framework
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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Carbon footprints and forest biomass – why? • •
•
Currently bio-CO2 flows are excluded from carbon footprint calculations – Burning of biomass is thought to equal the growth in the long-run However, biogenic carbon flows are significant in the forest industries’ product value chains – The balance of forest C stocks can be far from neutral, negative or positive, in midterm (decades) – Timing in long-rotation forestry a key question A need to consider bio-C flows in forestry products with a scientifically acceptable methodology
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
21.11.2012
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Carbon footprint and forest biomass - approach •
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•
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Aim to clarify and assess the scientific justification of the existing approaches. – Climate impacts of forest policies or individual forest products? Forest policy-making (1): How forest carbon balances and climate impacts change in different forest management options? Product carbon footprints (2): How to include impact of single harvesting decisions in product LCA? Test and develop methodology in the case studies with MOTTI data
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
(1)
(2)
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Biogenic carbon – preliminary conclusions An approach has been developed for inclusion of forest biomass carbon for product LCA • • •
Based on literature review on previous approaches and is peer reviewed Impact of individual harvesting decision allocated to forest product Forest and climate dynamics included, easy to compare to fossil CO2 emissions
Climate impacts depend on • Forest model estimates on development of forest C stocks; and • The time that biomass carbon remains in forest product
FIBIC Workshop on approach and preliminary results: 29.11.2012 at VTT, Espoo!
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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Why water footprint- industrial perspective Sustainable water use is important for the industry – Sustainability goals – Economic interests – Stakeholder expectations – Benefit for the Nordic industry Industry involvement – Water footprint method development – Testing of methods (e.g. UPM, Stora Enso)
1UPM 2Stora
water footprint study www.upm.com/EN/RESPONSIBILITY/ Enso water footprint study www.beveragecarton.eu/newsroom/26/60/Water-Footprint-of-Stora-Enso-s-Skoghall-Mill-report/
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
21/11/2012
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State-of-the-art in ISO 14046 Water Footprint Standard development • • • • • •
Compatible with ISO 14040, 14044 LCA standard Water footprint is an impact, not an inventory Local aspects should be taken into account Water quality is as important as water volume Positive aspects can be reported Water use = any use of water by human activity
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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Water footprint in EffFibre Background: Water footprint methodology by the Water Footprint Network showed that paper product have very high water footprints (mainly because of green water) Research question: How to account for the natural water cycle and regional water availability in product water footprints? Solution: •
The volume-based approaches used are not suitable for forest product’s water footprint
•
Water footprint has to reflect an impact (or impact potential) to water availability and water quality
Green water use of managed semi-natural Nordic forests has no negative environmental or water balance impacts and should be neglected 10 Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy 21/11/2012 •
Biodiversity Biodiversity indicators for forest based industry – Finnish forestry, global usability – Species & habitat diversity – Stakeholders and experts included in the process: • Based on existing indicators (www.biodiversity.fi) – Framework for selecting indicators • Criteria; data availability, policy relevance… The process for selecting the indicators 1. Literature review of existing indicators 2. Stakeholder workshop 3. Expert interviews (5-10 persons) 4. Testing: forest management scenarios (Motti) 5. Evaluation 6. Reporting Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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Biodiversity Preliminary indicators: (1. Round wood removals (?)) 2. Soil a) harrowing, b) mounding and c) stump removal in clear cut areas [% share in average] 3. Dead wood - amount of dead wood [10+ cm in diameter] 4. Share of protected/natural forests in the area OR old forest with dead wood +20 m3/ha 5. Tree species composition a) The share of domestic tree species of all trees or of cut trees b) Share of deciduous trees (natural share depends on forest type) 7. Preservation of valuable habitats in loggings [%] 8. Retention trees in regeneration areas [m3, on regional level] What happens next? • Final selection and evaluation of the indicators, data availability (Motti?) In the future: • LCA indicators that are applicaple to Finnish conditions are needed • The development of the biodiversity indicators is challenging task and a lot is still to be done. The work will continue! Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
21/11/2012
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Land use – why is it of interest? •
Productive land is becoming a limited resource with the current increase in population and raw material consumption – Biomass production for food, feed, fibre and fuels and ecosystem services
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Biomass feedstock provision is more land use intensive than traditional nonrenewable feedstocks. Question on the land use related impacts of bioeconomy has arisen as public concern Global ecological footprint over time
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Up-to-date scientific views needed on the land use impacts of forestry in order to provide factual based arguments to the discussion
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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On-going discussion on forestry and land use
Source: WWF Living forests 2011 Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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Bio-based forest products will be compared to competitors in LCA case study - Indicators and viewpoints Productive land as resource - Ecological footprint - Land-use changes
Many functions and potentials of soils are crucial for ecosystems and humans - Biotic production potential - Erosion resistance
Soils are directly or indirectly influenced by land use activities
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
- Filtering and buffering
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Case studies ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF DIFFERENT SCENARIOS
Case 2 Forest scenarios Case 3 Allocation
APPLICATION OF DEVELOPED INDICATORS IN PRODUCT LCA
Case 1 Product LCA
ALLOCATION OF FOREST IMPACT TO DIFFERENT PRODUCT GROUPS Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
21/11/2012
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Effect of different allocation methods on allocation factors at forest
FORESTRY 2010
Volume allocation factor
Mass allocation factor
Heat value allocation factor
Economic allocation factor
LOG WOOD
0.37
0.36
0.37
0.67
FIBER WOOD
0.52
0.54
0.55
0.32
ENERGY WOOD
0.11
0.10
0.09
0.01
Share of forest impact (carbon & water emissions, land use, biodiversity impacts) allocated to each wood fraction Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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FOREST IMPACT Water emissions by source in SC paper life-cycle Mill energy & fuels
5%
Suspended solids
Mill operations
33%
Forestry
1.4 kg/t paper
Non-fiber raw material
2% 26%
60% 2%
4%
2% 2%
Phosphorus 63%
9%
0.03 kg/t paper
Nitrogen 0.18 kg/t paper
Business as usual -scenario Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
92%
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Nutrient and suspended solid loads from forest management scenarios N = nitrogen P = phosphorus SS = susp. solids
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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Thank you for your interest
Helena Wessman VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Sustainability, Industrial Systems
[email protected] Tel. +358 40 522 7253
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy
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