Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Pacific Northwest Douglasfir Forestry Operations

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Pacific Northwest
Douglas-fir Forestry Operations

• Edie Sonne Hall
• University of Washington
• College of Forest Resources
• USDA GHG Symposium
• 3/23/05

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(No Transcript)
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What about emissions from forest activities?
Photo by Grant Sharpe
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Todays talk

• Framework for a detailed inventory of GHG
  emissions from forestry operations
• 2. Examine the relative contribution of direct
  emissions to total upstream emissions
• 3. Discuss the relative contribution of total
  GHG emissions to change in biomass carbon
  sequestration
• 4. Identify potential areas of opportunity

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Impacts of Forest Management on Atmospheric
Greenhouse Gases

• Sources
• Carbon dioxide fossil fuel combustion
  (transportation, harvesting, site preparation,
  seedling production, fertilizer, herbicide,
  pesticide production), biomass decomposition,
  biomass burning
• Nitrous oxide fertilization, biomass burning
• Methane reducing soil sink, biomass burning
• Sinks/Stores living biomass, dead biomass, soil
  carbon, wood products

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Methodology

• Life Cycle Assessment
• Method to assess holistic environmental
  performance of a product or a service
• ISO 14040 (Goal and Scope Definition), 14041
  (Inventory Analysis), 14042 (Impact Assessment),
  14043 (Interpretation)
• Mass-balance model that assesses inputs and
  outputs from cradle to grave of a product or
  service
• All results are normalized to the same functional
  unit

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System Boundaries
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408 Total Management Regimes
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Decision AlternativesSeedling Type
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Large Plug
P1
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Decision AlternativesSite Preparation

• Pile and Burn
• - 8 gallons diesel/acre
• - 1 gallon propane/acre
• - 10 tons biomass/acre
• Chemical
• - 1.5 qts Accord/acre
• - 2.8 oz Oust/acre

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Decision AlternativesGrowth Enhancements

• Seventeen Combinations of
• Initial Stand Density (350,500,700)
• Fertilization
• Herbicide Treatment
• Pre-commercial thinning (PCT)
• Commercial thinning (CT)
• No enhancements
• Four rotation ages (30, 40, 50, 60)

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Scope of Study- west-side Douglas-fir plantations
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Direct and Indirect Emissions
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Are direct emissions representative of the total
upstream global warming impact of forestry
activities?
Normalized to 50 yrs
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Can forest management alternatives significantly
alter total GHG emissions?
Difference from reference regime (in kg)
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Are GHG emissions significant compared with
carbon uptake from forest growth?
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What are the biggest contributors to GHG
emissions?
Photos by Grant Sharpe
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Opportunities

• For Western WA and OR timberlands.
• Eliminating pile and burn site prep would reduce
  GHG emissions by 35,400 tons CO2e per year
• Reducing nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer
  application (slow-release fertilizers) would
  reduce GHG emissions by 47,000 tons CO2e/year

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The End

• For more information please contact me
• edie_at_u.washington.edu
• This project is funded by the National
• Council on Air and Stream Improvement