Christian Solli

Environmental Impact and Added Value in Forestry Operations in Norway

The forestry sector is experiencing an increasing demand for documentation about its environmental performance. Previous studies have revealed large differences in environmental impact caused by forestry operations, mainly due to differences in location and forestry practice. Reliable information on environmental performance for forestry operations in different regions is thus important. This article presents a case study of forestry operations in Norway. Environmental impact and value added of selected operations were assessed. This was done with a hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Main results, including a sensitivity analysis, are presented for a set of four impact categories. The production chain assessed included all processes from seedling production to the delivery of logs to a downstream user. The environmental impact was mainly caused by logging, transport by forwarders, and transport by truck. These three operations were responsible for approximately 85% of the total environmental impact. The contribution to value added and total costs were more evenly distributed among the processes in the value chain. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the difference in environmental impact between the worst case scenario and the best case scenario was more than a factor of 4. The single most important process was the transport distance from the timber pile in the forest to the downstream user. The results show that the environmental impact from forestry operations in boreal forests was probably underreported in earlier studies.

Applying Leontief's Price Model to Estimate Missing Elements in Hybrid Life Cycle Inventories

This article presents an approach to estimate missing elements in hybrid life cycle inventories. Its development is motivated by a desire to rationalize inventory compilation while maintaining the quality of the data. The approach builds on a hybrid framework, that is, a combination of process- and inputoutput-based life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The application of Leontiefs price model is central in the proposed procedure. Through the application of this approach, an inventory with no cutoff with respect to costs can be obtained. The formal framework is presented and discussed. A numerical example is provided in Supplementary Appendix S1 on the Web.

Global carbon footprints : Methods and import/export corrected results from the Nordic countries in global carbon footprint studies

There is increasing public, media and policy interest in the concepts of carbon footprints and the emissions associated with international trade. Many wonder if our growing consumption of imported products offsets our gains in climate policy. A variety of publications suggest that emission reductions in rich countries are offset by increased imports, i.e. our national carbon footprint is growing while our territorial emissions are getting smaller. Some refute this claim stating that the methods and data are unreliable, while others acknowledge the issue but argue it is not important for climate policy. This report aims to dispel some myths about carbon footprints and trade-adjusted emission inventories. A review of studies finds large variations between studies of the Nordic countries, but closer inspection shows that many of the variations are due to inconsistent definitions and non-comparable methods. Calculations using a consistent global model provide updated estimates for the Nordic countries in 1997, 2001, and 2004. A general observation for the Nordic countries is that the overall carbon footprint is larger than territorial based emissions, and that the difference is increasing. Further we also observe an increase in the total carbon footprint from 2001 to 2004. This stresses the need for policy makers to track the cause-effect chains between consumption and production to understand and mitigate potential carbon leakage. The study was carried out by researchers from CICERO and MiSA and was financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers.