What makes carbon storage so important?

The government’s main goal is for Norway to become carbon neutral by 2030. This will present major challenges in many sectors of society, but for the wood industry it opens up new opportunities. Active forest and wood use is one of several measures that can contribute a lot to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the future. The wood industry is a clean and efficient industry with low greenhouse gas emissions and little negative effect on the environment. One of the big bonuses is carbon sequestration. Carbon is one of the “building blocks” of wood. The formation of wood takes place through photosynthesis by the trees using Co2 from the atmosphere, and binding the carbon in the wood itself. The carbon is then stored in the wood product until it is released through natural decomposition or combustion. Processed pine binds, for example, 490 kg Co2 per cubic. But living trees in the forest also have a CO2 bond. What does it help to use wood as a building material?

When trees are felled when they are mature, this binding is extended in the tree. The carbon is stored in the wood until it is released through decomposition or combustion. Storing carbon in wooden buildings is thus better than the tree dying at the root. If it dies at the root, most of the carbon in the wood will find its way back to the atmosphere in the form of Co2. This achieves the greatest savings in CO2 emissions by first using mature forest for wood in various wood productions, which can later be recycled, and then used for biogenic fuel on the day it ends its life cycle. During the processing of timber, much of the wood is “wasted” by cutting and planing. This will be sawn timber, as well as bark, shavings and other by-products used in energy production. This presupposes that the forest comes from sustainable forestry with documented certification, and one can be sure that all parts of the tree will be used.