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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
12:44
Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework
Published on: July 24, 2016
Climate change mitigation in Canada's forest sector: a spatially explicit case study for two regions.
C E Smyth1, B P Smiley2, M Magnan2
1Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 506 Burnside Road West, Victoria, BC, V8Z 1M5, Canada. Carolyn.Smyth@canada.ca.
Carbon Balance and Management
|September 7, 2018
Summary
Forest management and wood use can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Utilizing wood residues for local energy and creating longer-lived wood products offers the highest mitigation potential.
Area of Science:
- Forestry Science
- Climate Change Mitigation
- Environmental Modeling
Background:
- Assessing the potential of Canada's managed forests to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through altered management and wood utilization practices.
- Utilizing a spatially explicit forest inventory and established modeling frameworks to project impacts from 2018 to 2050.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate various forest management and wood use scenarios for their GHG mitigation potential.
- To quantify the impact of increased harvesting efficiency, residue utilization for bioenergy, reduced harvesting, and increased wood product longevity.
Main Methods:
- Employed the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector and a harvested wood products framework.
- Incorporated marginal emission substitution benefits from wood product and bioenergy use.
- Utilized a 16-hectare pixel resolution spatially explicit forest inventory.
Main Results:
- Significant variations in mitigation potential were observed across different scenarios.
- Scenarios combining forest management with the production of longer-lived wood products demonstrated the highest GHG mitigation potential.
- Substitution benefits varied based on local energy demands, fuel mixes, and wood product choices.
Conclusions:
- Using harvest residues for local energy and increasing wood product longevity are effective GHG reduction strategies.
- Substitution benefits are context-dependent, influenced by local energy needs and product applications.
- This analysis aids in identifying biomass sources for maximum mitigation benefits, especially given projected high demand.
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