A Simple Example on Life Cycle Assessment of Wood Harvesting Technologies in Turkish Forestry to Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Abstract

The forestry sector plays a key role in mitigating the negative effects of climate change. Wood supply chain (harvesting and transportation) have adverse impacts on forest environment. With respect to the interaction between forest and harvest operations, one of the key issue is the changes in carbon stock. The study on the emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wood supply in Turkey was undertaken to exemplify the adverse impacts of the harvest operations on global warming potential and climate change. The subject of this study, was to evaluate the primary roundwood production activities in terms of environmental impacts. The environmental impacts metrics were generally based on global warming potential, measured in CO2-equivalent GHG. The system boundary for this study was restricted to supply chain operations associated with roundwood harvesting and transportation. The impacts of forest operations on climate change may be reduced by choosing the best technologies for general forest conditions. LCA (life cycle assessment)-based systematic comparative analysis of different modes of harvesting systems and technological options were considered for the quantification of adverse impacts. To evaluate and control the wood supply chain, life cycle analysis can be a powerful decision mechanism. Operational modifications can be needed to reach the target of GHG minimization.