Forests in the Finnish low carbon scenarios

Finland is committed to the EU goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from the 1990 levels by 2050. We examine the potential role of the forests in fulfilling this goal in Finland. We base our analysis on the six scenarios that supported the parliamentary process of preparing Energy and Climate Roadmap 2050 for Finland to which we contributed by providing the assessment of forest sector development. While the scenario paths show that a systemic change to achieve the 80% target is possible with the increasing use of wood for energy being an important tool to cut emissions, our projections here show that an increase in forest carbon sink alone could play at least as important a role in improving the carbon balance. As the Finnish forests are growing clearly more than the projected removals of wood biomass are, Finland's carbon balance in full carbon accounting might become negative already before 2040 thanks to the forest sink. The forest growth might come to offset all other emissions sources even without other measures and still allow an increase in the use of wood for materials and energy. Nevertheless also other emission saving measures are needed because there is currently a cap which limits the use of LULUCF sinks as an emission reduction tool, and because of the fact that at some future point of time the forest sink will saturate while being vulnerable to many risks at the meantime.     

A modified production possibility frontier for efficient forestry management under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme

Carbon sequestered through increased forest biomass provides a low cost means to curb emissions and has become a major focus of New Zealand's Emissions Trading Scheme. We present a forest planning optimisation model where land use is governed by forest owners maximising the returns to both timber harvest and carbon sequestration. By varying carbon prices, we model efficient trade‐offs between the two forest activities along a modified production possibility frontier for four distinct wood supply regions in New Zealand. Results show that while more productive regions such as the Central North Island (CNI) and Northland have a greater capacity as a carbon sink, it is the less productive regions that have a comparative advantage in carbon sequestration in terms of a lower cost of wood production revenue foregone. However, moderate increases in carbon uptake can be achieved in the CNI at low opportunity cost by subtle changes in forestry management. The implication for policy‐makers is that initial increases in carbon sequestration will be achieved at the lowest cost to society by favouring high volume timber production in some productive woodland areas and/or by more carbon farming in less productive areas.     

Sequester or substitute—Consequences of increased production of wood based energy on the carbon balance in Finland

Forests play an important role in mitigating climate change. Forests can sequester carbon from the atmosphere and provide biomass, which can be used to substitute for fossil fuels or energy-intensive materials. International climate policies favor the use of wood to substitute for fossil fuels rather than using forests as carbon sink. We examine the trade off between sequestering carbon in forests and substituting wood for fossil fuels in Finland. For Finland to meet its EU targets for the use of renewable energy by 2020, a considerable increase in the use of wood for energy is necessary. We compare scenarios in which the wood energy targets are fully or partially met to a reference case where policies favoring wood based energy production are removed. Three models are used to project fossil fuel substitution and changes in forest carbon sinks in the scenarios through 2035.Finnish forests are a growing carbon sink in all scenarios. However, net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will be higher in the medium term if Finland achieves its current wood energy targets than if the use of energy wood stagnates or decreases. The volume of GHG emissions avoided by replacing coal, peat and fossil diesel with wood is outweighed by the loss in carbon sequestered in forests due to increased biomass removals. Therefore, the current wood energy targets seem excessive and harmful to the climate. In particular, biodiesel production has a significant, negative impact on net emissions in the period considered. However, we did not consider risks such as forest fires, wind damage and diseases, which might weaken the sequestration policy. The potential albedo impacts of harvesting the forests were not considered either.     

国有林区改革对生物质能源发展的影响

在理论层面,国有林区改革引发新能源政策指导思想从以经济效益为主到生态效益与经济效益并重的跨越式发展,加速生物质能源政策的制定与推行;在实践层面,国有林区改革实施的指导意见促进生物质能源政策的具体化与细致化,为生物质能源在财税补贴、能源林种植奖励、生物发电及技术研发等方面的政策制定提供了参考建议,带动了生物质能源相关产业的发展,为改善民生和保护生态提供了强大的助力。     

Optimal forest harvest age considering carbon sequestration in multiple carbon pools: A comparative statics analysis

We present an analytical model for determination of the economically optimal harvest age of a forest stand considering timber value, and the value of carbon fluxes in living biomass, dead organic matter, and wood products pools. Through comparative statics analysis, we find that consideration of timber value and fluxes in biomass carbon increase harvest age relative to the timber only solution, and that the effect on optimal harvest age of incorporating fluxes in the dead organic matter and wood products pools is indeterminate.We also present a numerical example to examine the magnitudes of these effects. In general, incorporating the dead organic matter and wood products pools have the effect of reducing rotation age. Perhaps more interestingly, when initial stocks of carbon in dead organic matter or wood products pool are relatively high, consideration of these pools can have a highly negative effect on net present value.     

Wood biomass use for energy in Europe under different assumptions of coal,gas and CO2 emission prices and market conditions

This study examines the effects of different coal, natural gas and carbon emission prices and market situations on the use of wood for electricity and heat production in the European Union. The analysis is carried out using the global forest sector model EFI-GTM expanded to cover electricity and heat production from wood, coal, natural gas, wind and solar energy. Analysis shows that with low coal and gas prices, use of wood for energy will be limited to low cost logging residues. With high coal, and especially natural gas prices, industrial wood also comes to be used for energy. At a carbon price of 100 €/tCO₂, some 32 Mm³ of industrial wood, in addition to 224 Mm³ of logging residues, are projected to be used for electricity and heat in the EU region (including Norway and Switzerland) in 2030. The relatively low quantity of industrial wood used by the energy sector despite the collapse of the use of coal is explained by the fact that under high CO₂ prices, other energy forms like natural gas, solar and wind energy become more and more competitive. However, the amount of industrial wood used for energy may substantially increase with subsidies for using wood for electricity and heat, even with relatively low carbon prices. With a high coal and gas price and a carbon price of 100 €/t, a subsidy of 30 €/MWh to the wood based and coal with wood co-firing electricity production will have a significant impact on the European wood based sector. Depending on the development of the market demand for forest industry products, such a subsidy may cause a 10–12.5% reduction in forest products production, a 6–9% increase in harvest level, about 30–60% increase in the pulpwood prices, and a 6–9 fold increase of wood imports in the EU, compared to the respective case without a subsidy in 2030.     

森林碳生产的要素流动机理分析

分析了森林碳生产的劳动力、资本、土地等主要构成要素,从森林碳生产函数出发,从要素价格、要素之间的替代性、要素环境等3个方面研究了森林碳生产的要素流动机理,提出通过落实国家节能减排政策、提高森林经营者的碳生产认知、完善森林碳生产土地要素管理、保障森林碳生产资金投入、完善碳排放权交易市场等5个方面来保障要素合理有效流动。     

山东省碳排放时空格局及其与经济增长相关性分析

基于《山东省统计年鉴》,核算2000~2010年间山东省及17个省辖市能源消费、农田系统碳排放量、森林草地碳汇量。选取人均碳排放量、碳排放强度等指标,利用基尼系数,结合GIS空间分析法分析山东碳排放的时空规律,并利用库兹涅茨曲线分析经济增长对碳排放格局的影响。研究表明：山东省碳排放量随时间变化呈较为明显的上升趋势,其中能源排放比重较大,区域之间存在明显的差异,呈现出中间高边缘低的分布特征;人均GDP与碳排放强度之间存在线性相关关系,呈倒U型曲线。     

基于KAYA模型的黑龙江国有森工林区碳排放及其驱动因素实证研究

本研究运用KAYA模型,选取2001～2010年的数据,对黑龙江国有森工林区二氧化碳排放量及其驱动因素进行了分析。研究表明:10年来黑龙江国有森工林区碳排放总量持续增加;人口数量、经济发展、单位能耗碳排放三个因素对黑龙江国有森工林区碳排放量基本为正向影响,单位GDP能源强度则主要为负向影响;经济发展和单位GDP能源强度是影响黑龙江国有森工林区碳排放的主要因素,而人口数量和单位能耗碳排放对碳排放影响较低。基于上述实证分析,本研究提出环境政策调控、节能减排、提高能源效率等建议,以减少林区碳排放和促进低碳经济发展.。     

The Dynamic Competitiveness of U.S. Agricultural and Forest Carbon Sequestration

Society is increasingly turning attention toward greenhouse gas emission control with for example the Kyoto Protocol has entered into force. Since many of the emissions come from energy use, high cost strategies might be required until new technological developments reduce fossil fuel dependency or increase energy utilization efficiency. On the other hand biologically based strategies may be used to offset energy related emissions. Agricultural soil and forestry are among the largest carbon reservoirs on the planet; therefore, agricultural and forest activities may help to reduce the costs of greenhouse gas emission mitigation. However, sequestration exhibits permanence related characteristics that may influence this role. We examine the dynamic role of carbon sequestration in the agricultural and forest sectors can play in mitigation. A 100-year mathematical programming model, depicting U.S. agricultural and forest sectoral activities including land transfers and greenhouse gas consequences is applied to simulate potential mitigation response. The results show that at low cost and in the near term agricultural soil and forest management are dominant sectoral responses. At higher prices and in the longer term biofuels and afforestation take over. Our results reveal that the agricultural and forest sector carbon sequestration may serve as an important bridge to the future helping to hold costs down until energy emissions related technology develops.     

Faustmann and the climate

The paper presents an adjusted Faustmann Rule for optimal harvest of a forest when there is a social cost of carbon emissions. The theoretical framework takes account of the dynamics and interactions of forests’ multiple carbon pools and assumes an infinite time horizon. Our paper provides a theoretical foundation for numerical model studies that have found that a social cost of carbon implies longer optimal rotation periods and that if the social cost of carbon exceeds a certain threshold value the forest should not be harvested. At the same time we show that it could be a net social benefit from harvesting even if the commercial profit from harvest is negative. If that is the case, the optimal harvest age is decreasing in the social cost of carbon.     

Combining an inter-sectoral carbon tax with sectoral mitigation policies: Impacts on the French forest sector

As France works out its plan to tackle climate change issues, questions are arising in the forest sector as to how sectoral mitigation programs such as those designed to enhance fuelwood consumption or to stimulate in-forest carbon sequestration may coincide with an inter-sectoral program such as an economy-wide carbon tax. This paper provides insights into this question by exploring the impacts of (1) a combination of a carbon tax and a fuelwood policy, and (2) a combination of a carbon tax and a sequestration policy on (i) the economy of the forest sector, and (ii) the dynamics of the forest resource. To do this, we used a modified version of the French Forest Sector Model (FFSM) and carried out simulations on a 2020 time horizon. Basing our analysis on the fuelwood sector, we showed that wood producers always benefit from the combination of a carbon tax with either a fuelwood policy or a sequestration policy at the national level. Conversely, and although it favors wood products instead of non-wood substitutes, a carbon tax always decreases consumer surpluses by increasing wood product prices. As a consequence, the combination of a carbon tax with sectoral policies is likely to raise questions about the political economy of the mitigation program. This is particularly true in the case of a combination of a carbon tax with a sequestration policy, which already decreases consumer surpluses. We eventually showed that by increasing transport costs between domestic regions, the carbon tax reallocates production patterns over French territory which could lead to the necessity of a regional breakdown of policy-mixes in the forest sector.     

森林碳生产的认识、方式与政策保障

森林的生产实践活动伴随人类社会文明进程变换其利用方式,森林减碳利用在应对全球气候变化过程中引人关注。森林碳生产作为森林减碳利用的具体表现形式,是森林生态文明的实践进步。本研究从生态、社会、经济等3个方面认识森林碳生产,分析人工造林、森林灾害防治、延迟采伐、土地利用变化等4种最为主要的碳生产方式,提出完善人工造林激励政策、完善采伐限额制度、采取适当的碳税和碳补偿政策、建立有效的碳排放权交易制度等4个方面的政策保障,进而更好地发挥森林在全球气候变化过程中的重要作用。     

Determining optimal forest rotation ages and carbon offset credits: Accounting for post-harvest carbon storehouses

Sequestering carbon in forest ecosystems is important for mitigating climate change. A major policy concern is whether forests should be left unharvested to avoid carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and store carbon, or harvested to take advantage of potential carbon storage in post-harvest wood product sinks and removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere by new growth. The issue is addressed in this paper by examining carbon rotation ages that consider commercial timber as well as carbon values. A discrete-time optimal rotation age model is developed that employs data on carbon fluxes stored in both living and dead biomass as opposed to carbon as a function of timber growth. Carbon is allocated to several ecosystem and post-harvest product pools that decay over time at different rates. In addition, the timing of carbon fluxes is taken into account by weighting future carbon fluxes as less important than current ones. Using simple formulae for determining optimal rotation ages, we find that: (1) Reducing the price of timber while increasing the price of carbon will increase rotation age, perhaps to infinity (stand remains unharvested). (2) An increase in the rate used to discount physical carbon generally reduces the rotation age, but not in all cases. (3) As a corollary, an increase in the price of carbon increases or reduces rotation age depending on the weight chosen to discount future carbon fluxes. (4) Site characteristics and the mix of species on the site affect conclusions (2) and (3). (5) A large variety of carbon offset credits from forestry activities could be justified, which makes it difficult to accept any.     

Economics of carbon sequestration under fluctuating economic environment,forest management and technological changes: An application to forest stands in the southern United States

This study presents a model that determines the effect of current and future payments for carbon sequestration, proportion of wood that sequesters carbon in long-lived product and landfills, and amount of carbon in the wood, on the optimal current forest harvest age. Increased current and future prices of carbon would lead to a longer and shorter harvest age, respectively. Higher current prices of carbon could increase the supply of carbon at a decreasing rate due to longer harvest ages. Moderate prices of carbon would encourage landowners to maintain standing timber. Policies focused then on stimulating landowners to hold timber on forestlands may not necessarily imply higher amounts of sequestered carbon. Increased future values of carbon could imply a reduction of the current supply of carbon.     

中国森林碳汇需求研究

首先,在梳理了相关文献的基础上,归纳总结了森林碳汇的相关概念、森林碳汇的计量方法、森林碳汇的效益。其次,阐述了中国森林碳汇市场需求不足的现状。再次,对森林碳汇需求及其影响因素进行研究分析。其中,企业森林碳汇需求主要受内部特征因素、外部动力因素和市场机制三大因素影响;社会公众需求主要受个人特征因素、主观意识因素和外部条件因素三大因素影响。最后,提出要加强森林碳汇需求方面的研究等建议。     

Carbon dioxide emissions from wood fuels in Sweden 1980–2100

It is often assumed that wood fuels are carbon neutral. This is approximately true in the very long run since the emissions from burning wood fuels are compensated by the uptake from new trees. But it is not true in the short- and the medium term due to a number of factors. This problem is analyzed in detail in this paper, where the net carbon (dioxide) effect of using wood residues in Sweden 1980–2100 is calculated. Two important implications of the program for using wood fuels are considered: (i) the decrease of carbon stored in logging residues due to a faster transformation to carbon dioxide and (ii) delayed growth of new forest generations when logging residues are removed from the forest and used as fuel. The effects of both these factors are calculated (and projected) for the period 1980–2100. The main result is that wood fuels (in the form of wood residues) emits about 60% of the carbon dioxide that would have been emitted if the corresponding amount of energy would, have been produced by oil. One policy implication of this is that emissions from wood fuels should not, as is now the practice, be ignored and by definition equaled to zero, in national and international statistics of green house gas emissions.     

论进出口国共担国际贸易中的木质林产品隐含碳排放

从单一的生产者负责和消费者负责存在弊端的分析入手,从生产者和消费者共同拥有外部性产权及WTO国际贸易原则的角度,论证国际贸易中木质林产品隐含碳排放应该由进出口国共同承担,建议改进国际贸易碳计量方法学,构建监测报告体系,探索共担机制下的国际碳交易,在共担机制下优化木质林产品国际贸易政策,推进进出口国产业结构调整。     

Safeguarding species richness vs. increasing the use of renewable energy—The effect of stump harvesting on two environmental goals

Deadwood is recognized as one of the most important resources affecting forest biodiversity. Its absence from the forest landscape is, therefore, of concern, such that one official Swedish environmental objective is to increase the volume of deadwood. However, increasing the use of renewable energy sources, another environmental goal, is likely to work against this biodiversity objective. In this study we utilize a regional economic forest sector model, focusing on northern Sweden, in order to estimate the effect of a large scale introduction of stump harvest on the future use of forest fuel. In addition, an ecological model, describing the relationship between the availability of stumps and the abundance of saproxylic beetles, is linked to the economic model.The parameters used in the economic model are derived from a data set spanning 28 years while the ecological model is derived from a survey of ten clear cuts, undertaken seven years after the clear cutting, in order to investigate the abundance of saproxylic beetles in stumps. We simulate the effects of an increased demand for wood fuels in northern Sweden, with or without stump harvest. The two scenarios have different effects on all major round wood markets in the region, as well as on the abundance of saproxylic beetles. More specifically, the harvest of stumps is associated with a 5% reduction in the mean abundance of saproxylic beetles living in deadwood on future clear cuts and a 3% increase in the use of renewable energy recourses in heating plants.     

森林碳汇储备中政府监管与林农行为博弈分析

基于碳汇发展过程中政府与林农之间的博弈关系,结合嵌入式社会结构理论、农户经济理论和正式制度与非正式制度理论,构建政府监管和林农行为选择博弈模型,分析双方的博弈收益。结果表明:政府采取监管、加大扶持力度、建立健全碳汇发展体制机制、完善碳汇市场体系等措施,林农会选择执行监管政策;反之,若政府不实施相关政策,加之林农对森林碳汇认识不够,参与森林碳汇储备意愿不强等,林农会选择不执行监管政策。因此,急需建立健全碳汇交易市场体制机制、完善碳汇林补贴政策、加大政策宣传力度、创新政府监管模式,以期有效推动森林碳汇储备,从而加快森林碳汇项目发展。