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Energy aspects in LCA of forest products - guidelines from Cost Action E9

Energy aspects in LCA of forest products - guidelines from Cost Action E9
Energy aspects in LCA of forest products - guidelines from Cost Action E9
Intention and Background. This paper outlines guidelines for the treatment of energy in LCAs of forest products. The paper is a result of the Cost Action E 9 Life cycle assessment of forestry and forest products and reflects the experience of Cost E9 delegates, contributing to Working Group End of life – recycling, disposal and energy generation.
Objectives. After overviewing different aspects of energy in LCA of forest products, the most important aspects are identified: 1) energy and carbon balance, 2) energy generation, 3) energy substitution and 4) comparison with other waste management options. For these aspects, guidelines are developed and examples are given to demonstrate the practical application of recommended guidelines.
Conclusions. Beside the proper treatment of the above mentioned aspects, the following conclusions for the LCA practitioners are given: 1) Draw attention to losses of potential energy in carbon flows. 2) Compared to heating value of biomass the auxiliary energy need is low (< 10%). 3) The substitution rate (bioenergy for fossil fuel) might be lower than 100%, depending on technical systems available. 4) A high substitution rate might be an optimisation criterion for LCA. 5) A sensitivity analysis of different substitution criteria should be made. 6) Compare energy generation to other waste management options. 7) Use of bioenergy might be CO2-neutral but not CO2-free. 8) Most important benefit of bioenergy is greenhouse gas reduction by substituting fossil energy.
bioenergy, carbon balance, Cost Action E9, energy aspects, energy balance, energy generation, energy substitution, forest products, forestry, life cycle assessment, waste management, wooden products
0948-3349
369-375
Jungmeier, Gerfried
8c2c7a32-cbd8-4f22-ae22-7cb3981f37ef
McDarby, Fred
ffe66b57-daab-4b5c-84a5-0b651e285625
Evald, Anders
d67f9e32-4e3b-4ad7-8638-c943234fa93c
Hohental, Catharina
418d6fea-2cb2-47ff-b54b-584ba7f482b5
Petersen, Ann Kristin
e3718449-ef52-498f-ba23-33604fa2d04c
Schwaiger, Hannes
59a29dc1-8cd8-4c2e-8677-f484fab67378
Zimmer, Bernhard
835a449f-c8bc-4f57-9537-251fb8d2fc64
Jungmeier, Gerfried
8c2c7a32-cbd8-4f22-ae22-7cb3981f37ef
McDarby, Fred
ffe66b57-daab-4b5c-84a5-0b651e285625
Evald, Anders
d67f9e32-4e3b-4ad7-8638-c943234fa93c
Hohental, Catharina
418d6fea-2cb2-47ff-b54b-584ba7f482b5
Petersen, Ann Kristin
e3718449-ef52-498f-ba23-33604fa2d04c
Schwaiger, Hannes
59a29dc1-8cd8-4c2e-8677-f484fab67378
Zimmer, Bernhard
835a449f-c8bc-4f57-9537-251fb8d2fc64

Jungmeier, Gerfried, McDarby, Fred, Evald, Anders, Hohental, Catharina, Petersen, Ann Kristin, Schwaiger, Hannes and Zimmer, Bernhard (2002) Energy aspects in LCA of forest products - guidelines from Cost Action E9. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 7 (6), 369-375. (doi:10.1065/lca2002.08.096).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Intention and Background. This paper outlines guidelines for the treatment of energy in LCAs of forest products. The paper is a result of the Cost Action E 9 Life cycle assessment of forestry and forest products and reflects the experience of Cost E9 delegates, contributing to Working Group End of life – recycling, disposal and energy generation.
Objectives. After overviewing different aspects of energy in LCA of forest products, the most important aspects are identified: 1) energy and carbon balance, 2) energy generation, 3) energy substitution and 4) comparison with other waste management options. For these aspects, guidelines are developed and examples are given to demonstrate the practical application of recommended guidelines.
Conclusions. Beside the proper treatment of the above mentioned aspects, the following conclusions for the LCA practitioners are given: 1) Draw attention to losses of potential energy in carbon flows. 2) Compared to heating value of biomass the auxiliary energy need is low (< 10%). 3) The substitution rate (bioenergy for fossil fuel) might be lower than 100%, depending on technical systems available. 4) A high substitution rate might be an optimisation criterion for LCA. 5) A sensitivity analysis of different substitution criteria should be made. 6) Compare energy generation to other waste management options. 7) Use of bioenergy might be CO2-neutral but not CO2-free. 8) Most important benefit of bioenergy is greenhouse gas reduction by substituting fossil energy.

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More information

Published date: 2002
Keywords: bioenergy, carbon balance, Cost Action E9, energy aspects, energy balance, energy generation, energy substitution, forest products, forestry, life cycle assessment, waste management, wooden products

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 55816
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/55816
ISSN: 0948-3349
PURE UUID: 5c766aa0-010b-4baf-96dd-0f1aea745d1d

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Date deposited: 06 Aug 2008
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 10:57

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Contributors

Author: Gerfried Jungmeier
Author: Fred McDarby
Author: Anders Evald
Author: Catharina Hohental
Author: Ann Kristin Petersen
Author: Hannes Schwaiger
Author: Bernhard Zimmer

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