Keeping wood greenest: Maximizing the unique benefits of preserved wood through end-of-life planning to realize carbon sequestration and a circular economy
IRG/WP 24-50387
J D Lloyd, B Poe
While competitive fuels and different energy sources are a main driver of current difficulties with using end-of-life wood products for fuel, that is a potentially smaller problem than the rapidly changing carbon footprints of competitive materials, which can potentially be smaller than wood, if the wrong decisions are made at the end of life by users and waste generators. While users have several immediate and future potential options for wood recycling, energy capture and disposal, only a few can keep us competitively green in the future where carbon footprint is likely to be a strong competitive force.
This article discusses some of the issues associated with end-of-life planning for wood and preserved wood that potentially impact LCA and the carbon footprint of wood in service. To keep wood and preserved wood green, the authors propose that the CO2 captured during the growth of the tree must be permanently sequestered at end of life and that the preservatives can be recycled.