Carbon storage accounting in Brazilian harvested wood products

An unprecedented study by Embrapa Florestas (Brazil) began to measure data on carbon accumulation in wood forest products (PFM), such as sawn wood, wood panels and paper and cardboard, as well as waste discarded from these materials. The first survey was carried out in 2020, using the year 2016 as a reference, and accounted for 50.7 million tons of CO2 equivalent in the country. The number obtained, despite still being considered small when compared to other countries, represents 3.5% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and is deducted from the final gross emissions account, which can be each increasingly strategic for Brazil.

According to Embrapa Florestas researcher Luiz Marcelo Rossi, “wood is made up of carbon at around 50%, so every PMF, such as furniture, a book, a board contains carbon that was removed from the atmosphere by the trees. In this way, the carbon remains stored in the product until it begins to decompose and consequently emit CO2 after use. Thus, the production and use of PMF is a way to increase the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, contributing to the reduction of the effects of climate change”.

The production and use of forest wood products increases the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. And contribution of forest products to CO2 removal represents about 13% of the gross emissions of the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sector.

Click here for Embrapa's press release and in the image below for the scientific study.

This kind of scientific work should help a lot in future issues, such as the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

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#co2