Environmental analysis of Eucalyptus timber production from short rotation forestry in Brazil

Abstract

There was a fast increase in the planted area of forest plantations in Brazil in the period from 1966 until the beginning of the 1980s due to governmental fiscal incentives, when management practices were adopted from agriculture, which raised environmental concerns. Research investigation has been conducted in order to better adapt the management of these plantations. However, in the last decade, new societal demands towards the sustainability of short rotation Eucalyptus plantations have arisen. Therefore, the goal of the study was to assess the carbon and energy balance and the release of nutrifying agents to the environment of timber production from a short rotation Eucalyptus plantation in Brazil. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology was applied and the impact categories global warming potential, eutrophication potential and cumulative energy demand were used. The results showed that for each ton of timber delivered at the mill gate, 42.49 kg CO2-eq. was released to the air, 0.240 kg PO43- eq. was released to water and air and 830 MJ-eq. of fossil energy was consumed. The forest process was responsible for 86.2% and 97.5% of global warming potential and eutrophication potential, respectively, whereas the upstream process was responsible for 58.7% of cumulative energy demand. However, the CO2-eq and energy ratios were 43.15 and 23.13, respectively. Moreover, eutrophication seems to be overestimated when compared to studies that measured nutrient leaching in conditions similar to this study. Therefore, short rotation Eucalyptus plantations proved to be sustainable systems to produce timber for several uses in Brazil.