Comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO2 emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’

Prisley, Stephen P.; Gaudreault, Caroline; Lamers, Patrick; Stewart, William; Miner, Reid; Junginger, H. M.; Oneil, Elaine; Malmsheimer, Robert; Volk, Timothy A.

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aaf203

Title: Comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO₂ emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’

Journal Article · 18 December 2018 · Environmental Research Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf203 · OSTI ID:1492519

^[1]; Gaudreault, Caroline ^[2];

^[3]; Stewart, William ^[4]; Miner, Reid ^[5];

^[6]; Oneil, Elaine ^[7]; Malmsheimer, Robert ^[8]; Volk, Timothy A. ^[8]

NCASI, Roanoke, VA (United States)
NCASI, Montreal, QC (Canada)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
NCASI, Cary, NC (United States)
Utrecht Univ., Utrecht (Netherlands)
CORRIM - The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, Corvalis, OR (United States)
SUNY ESF, Syracuse, NY (United States)

The use of wood for bioenergy production results in a worse climate outcome than from using coal. However, many of the assumptions on which their primary wood bioenergy scenario is based are not realistic and therefore are not informative. Assumptions of uncharacteristically long rotations for southern pine plantations, no utilization of wood for longer-duration products, and a single harvest over 100 years understate the carbon performance of current forest management practices. We provide references that support realistic modeling of forest carbon dynamics that are reflective of current practice and therefore more informative.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation and Fuels. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1492519

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-6A20-72297

Journal Information:: Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 12; ISSN 1748-9326

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 9 works

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References (14)

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Modeling the impacts of wood pellet demand on forest dynamics in southeastern United States Duden, Anna S.; Verweij, Pita A.; Junginger, H. Martin Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, Vol. 11, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.1803	journal	September 2017
Short-rotation woody crops for bioenergy and biofuels applications Hinchee, Maud; Rottmann, William; Mullinax, Lauren In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant, Vol. 45, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-009-9235-5	journal	August 2009
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Environmental implications of harvesting lower-value biomass in forests Vance, Eric D.; Prisley, Stephen P.; Schilling, Erik B. Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 407 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2017.10.023	journal	January 2018
Potential greenhouse gas benefits of transatlantic wood pellet trade Dwivedi, Puneet; Khanna, Madhu; Bailis, Robert Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/2/024007	journal	January 2014
Climate, economic, and environmental impacts of producing wood for bioenergy Birdsey, Richard; Duffy, Philip; Smyth, Carolyn Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aab9d5	journal	April 2018
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Cited By (1)

Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO ₂ emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’ Sterman, John D.; Siegel, Lori; Rooney-Varga, Juliette N. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf354	journal	December 2018