ACW Baseline Report: Manufacturing - Forestry

This background paper explores the emission of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) in Canadian forestry, with a focus on the energy use and associated emissions related to the initial harvesting of trees, their processing into intermediate and/or finished products, and the reforestation efforts that are required for Canadian forests to remain a renewable resource. It is an interesting time to be looking at this topic as 2015 marks the target year, announced in 2007, by which the forest industry had targeted to achieve industry-wide carbon neutrality without the purchase of offsetting carbon credits Overall, the industry is found to have improved immensely in its emissions intensity. Three trends are highlighted: fuel switching, improved energy efficiency, and energy systems optimization. There are a variety of influences that have encouraged the continuous improvement of the industry. These incentives originate in public policy, economic incentives, and social pressure/responsibility.