Cited by 114Bioeconomy and Sustainability DevelopmentForest Biomass Utilization and ManagementAgricultural and Food Sciences

Assessing wood use efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions of wood product cascading in the European Union

Bais-Moleman, Anna Liza, Sikkema, Richard, Vis, Martijn, Reumerman, Patrick, Theurl, Michaela C., Erb, Karl-Heinz·2018·Journal of Cleaner Production

Abstract

Cascading use of biomass is a recognized strategy contributing to an efficient development of the bioeconomy and for mitigating climate change. This study aims at assessing the potential of cascading use of woody biomass for reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions and increasing the overall wood flow efficiency in the European Union's forest and bioeconomy sectors. A scenario and life cycle approach was followed to quantify the potential benefits of cascading use of woody biomass. We started from a reference scenario in which (post-consumer) waste wood and paper are re-utilized for energy only (S0). Then we compared the reference scenario with two alternative scenarios, the current waste wood and paper recycling practices (S1) and the maximum technical potential to increase recycling of waste wood and paper flows (S2). Following a supply chain perspective, different stages of production were analysed, including forgone fossil-fuels substitution, optimization at manufacturing level and forest regrowth. Through cascading use, the wood use efficiency ratio (cascade factor) in the European wood sector would be increased by 23% (S0 vs S1) and 31% (S0 vs S2) and GHG emissions (cradle-to-gate energy use) would be reduced by 42% (28 MtCO2-eq/year) and 52% (35 MtCO2-eq/year) in scenarios S1 and S2. However, increased wood product cascading is counter effected in the short term by reduced savings in the energy sector by 49% and 48% (−43 and −42 MtCO2-eq/year) in scenarios S1 and S2 due…

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.153

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  • Particularly in Europe, current policies tend to favor the conversion of wood into energy because of the CO2 emission reduction requirements of the energy sector, thus favoring the increased use of renewable sources to meet short-term energy targets.

    “Particularly in Europe, current policies tend to favor the conversion of wood into energy because of the CO 2 emission reduction requirements of the energy sector, thus favoring the increased use of renewable sources to meet short-term energy targets (Bais-Moleman et al., 2018).”
  • Prioritizing one use over the other depends on many factors and in general varies with the selected evaluation criteria.

    “Prioritizing one use over the other depends on many factors and in general varies with the selected evaluation criteria (Bais-Moleman et al., 2018;Suter et al., 2017;Werner et al., 2010).”
  • Almost all studies that included environmental assessments point to the lack of reliable data as a major source of uncertainty and ambiguity in their results.

    “Almost all of these studies point to the lack of reliable data as a major source of uncertainty and ambiguity in their results (Bais-Moleman et al., 2018;Bates et al., 2017;Bergeron, 2014;Fraanje, 1998;Höglmeier et al., 2015a;Kalcher et al., 2017;Lafleur and Fraanje, 1997;Mantau, 2015).”

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Authors
Bais-Moleman, A. L., Sikkema, R., Vis, M., Reumerman, P., Theurl, M. C., & Erb, K.-H.
Affiliations
  • European Commission (BE)
  • Biomass Technology Group (Netherlands) (NL)
  • University of Klagenfurt (AT)
Venue
Journal of Cleaner Production
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2018-01
Volume
172
Pages
3942-3954
ISSN
0959-6526 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2611718060
Cited by
114
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 2
FWCI
20.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Cleaner Production (publishedVersion)
  • Joint Research Centre (European Commission) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • EU (316020)
  • European Research Council (ERC-2010-Stg-263522 LUISE)
  • Austrian Science Funds (P29130-G27)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Bioeconomy and Sustainability Development
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanics of Materials › Forest Biomass Utilization and Management
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Forestry › Agricultural and Food Sciences
Keywords
woody biomass, greenhouse gas emissions, waste wood recycling, paper recycling, bioeconomy, fossil fuel substitution, forest regeneration, renewable energy targets, European Union

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