Abstract
There has been rapid growth in the use of engineered wood products in the construction sector in recent decades. We evaluate the economy-wide impacts on CO2 emissions from fossil energy use of replacing carbon-intensive construction inputs, such as steel and cement, with lumber products in the US under an emissions constraint. We find that the ability to substitute lumber-based building materials increases production from the lumber and forestry sectors and decreases production from carbon-intensive sectors such as cement. Under a carbon cap-and-trade policy, the ability to substitute lumber products lowers the carbon price and the GDP cost of meeting the carbon cap, with more overall emissions abatement in the construction industry. We briefly review the broader impact of forest harvest on carbon levels in forests, critical to determining the full life cycle impacts of greater lumber use, but do not add anything new to this literature.
Highlights
IntroductionThere is general agreement that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) must be stabilized
Climate change is a growing threat to the US economy and the world
Given our US economy database, we find that the CO2-intensity of lumber production is about 20% less than that of fabricated metal products, under 50% that of iron and steel, and under 25% that of cement
Summary
There is general agreement that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) must be stabilized. International agreements have called for stabilization such that the global temperature rise from preindustrial levels remains well below 2°C, with an aim of possibly keeping the increase below 1.5°C. Stabilization of atmospheric concentrations of GHGs will require that emissions eventually achieve net zero. With regard to controlling emissions, much attention has been focused on the electricity and transportation sectors of the economy as these are the biggest greenhouse gas-emitting sectors. With the need to achieve net zero emissions, attention must be focused on all sectors. Cement and steel, which are primarily used as building materials, are among the most difficult emissions to reduce. One possible alternative is to substitute away from these materials toward wood and engineered wood products, which are less GHG-intensive
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