Logging and climate change

Incidental impacts of logging : secondary emissions

Logging activities require massive energetic inputs at every step, with the associated GHG emissions. The primary sources of secondary emissions are:

Logging Roads

In Quebec, more than 5000km of new logging roads are built annually – the equivalent of building a road between Québec and Vancouver every year. Incredibly, Quebec’s primary logging road network is three times the size of its regular road network – 90 000km versus 30 000km. With the addition of secondary and tertiary logging roads, the total length of logging roads criss-crossing Quebec’s forest jumps to a staggering 250 000km! All these roads require heavy machinery to cut down trees, to transport mass quantities of gravel, and to provide regular maintenance.

Logging

Logging itself requires heavy machinery and trucks, which run on fossil fuels. With more than 300 000 hectares of forest cut down each year, the quantity of GHG emitted by logging equipment is considerable.

Transportation of wood to the factory

In Quebec, the average distance between logging sites and factories is increasing, due to the fact that logging operations are being driven northward to access available wood. In certain areas, logging companies must travel more than 300km to reach their logging sites. The GHG emissions associated with this travel are enormous. According to a study by the Heinz Center commissioned by Home Depot, more than 94% of the GHG emissions involved in the production of construction materials – from forest to consumer – are released during transportation: between logging sites and factories and in the distribution of finished products. Incredibly, for each tonne of construction materials delivered to the retailer, 0.8 tonnes of GHG are released during transportation alone.

Factory transformation

The industrial processes involved in transforming raw materials also require massive energetic inputs. According to a study by the Heinz Center commissioned by Times magazine, 77% of the GHG emissions involved in the production of the magazine – from forest to consumer – are released by the pulp and paper mills involved. Incredibly, for each tonne of magazine produced, 1.28 tonnes of carbon are released as secondary emissions.

Chemical products and packaging
The use of chlorine, dyes, varnishes, inks, plastics, and packaging also requires energetic inputs and the associated GHG emissions. The more the product requires transformation, the more the GHG emissions are considerable.

Distribution

More than 80% of the wood logged in Quebec is destined for exportation, mainly to the United States. Each kilometer travelled by wood products require fossil fuels and GHG emissions. It is not rare that a tree is cut in Quebec and exported, only to return in the form of various consumer products.

Thus, the climatic footprint of the forest industry is not limited to the forest itself. Even if forest products can be considered “climatic buffers” as long as they are storing carbon, the many steps involved in their manufacture are energy-intensive and release important quantities of GHGs.