Avoided Greenhouse Gas Emissions when Forest Products substiturte Competing Materials-Effect on Carbon Account and Optimal Forest Management A Case Study of Hedmark County in Norway

In the discussion of how forests can contribute to reducing the content of greenhouse gases on the atmosphere, most focus has been given to the sequestration of carbon dioxide in forests. Few studies have analysed the additional impact wood-based product has as a substitute for other materials. This effect comes in addition to fixation and release of carbon and can contribute to a long term solution. The aim of this article is to provide an empirical study on how wood products contribute to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on a regional level. The case study is of Hedmark county in Norway, and is done with the dynamic forest management optimization model GAYA-J/C. This model includes costs, revenues, and all the main carbon flows related to forests (living trees, dead trees, litter, soil, materials substitution, and energy substitution). The paper has three main objectives. The first is to find the effect of including substitution in a carbon account of Hedmark county. The second objective is to find how optimal forest management will change with various prices on CO2, and also study how the optimal forest management changes when substitution is included. The third objective is to find the frontier between net present value in monetary terms and net present value of carbon benefit, and see how it will change when substitution is included.