Page 47 - FDMAsia MarApr 2025

MATERIALS 45
www.fdmasia.com | FDM ASIA MAR/APR 2025

This potential for atmospheric carbon dioxide storage over
time depends directly on ensuring that any wood product David Cooper
remains in the environment for as long as possible and prevents
the release of carbon, whether accidental or deliberate.

This can be achieved through the manufacture of long-
lasting products, reuse, and, to a lesser extent, recycling or
modification for other uses, considering that any recycling or
modification process tends to lose some material and release
stored carbon to some extent.
Consequently, wood products used in construction,
especially in structural applications, offer buildings the potential
to store substantial amounts of biogenic carbon for decades, This is especially important in countries that consider forests
or even centuries. and wood products as strategic resources for achieving GHG

Moreover, the lower GHG emissions and reduced emission reduction targets and meeting raw material demands.
environmental impact associated with wood construction Moreover, durable wood products harvested from sustainably
offer a substantial potential for decreasing the environmental managed forests can effectively help prevent CO2 emissions,
impact of this sector. even when sourced from younger forests.
Currently, the construction industry is responsible for For example, newly planted forests, when managed with a
approximately 37 percent of atmospheric GHG emissions. focus on denser planting schemes and rapid growth strategies,
Additionally, traditional construction materials such as can capture CO2 more effectively than older forests.

concrete and steel currently account for approximately 11 And although older forests capture less CO2 overall,
percent of global GHG emissions due to their production individual mature trees capture more CO2 than several young
processes, in which it is difficult to reduce emissions, and trees; more importantly, they may have stored CO2 for a
their global production volumes. longer time, potentially even predating the industrial revolution.
In fact, approximately 70 percent of the planet’s anthropogenic Therefore, cutting down old trees in mature forests can
mass currently consists of materials such as concrete and have a higher impact on CO2 release compared to cutting
aggregates, and it is expected that by 2040, concrete by itself young trees in young forests, where reforestation plans can
would exceed the entire earth’s biomass. help capture new CO2.
Moreover, these materials are increasingly scarce, requiring Likewise, if the destination of wood products involves a

transportation over long distances for processing, resulting in life in construction elements, where the materials’ duration
emissions and environmental impacts associated with their in the built environment could span several replacement tree
extraction. growth cycles in the environment, any release of carbon
dioxide could eventually be compensated.
Importance Of Forest Resources Thus, it is desirable that the useful life of any wood
Forest resources are abundant in many regions worldwide and product exceeds the time it took the tree to capture the
have the potential to grow even further through reforestation stored biogenic carbon.

and afforestation strategies, offering substantial potential for Furthermore, forests with rapid growth and carbon dioxide
combating climate change. capture, such as those with a regeneration cycle of just a couple