CO2 intensity of wood in the energy transition is calculated in this data-file.
Context matters, and can sway the net climate impacts from -2 tons of emissions reductions per ton of wood through to +2 tons of incremental emissions per ton of wood.
Covered contexts include deforestation, sustainable forestry, commercial thinnings and gathering fallen biomass; which is cross-plotted against wood fuel displacing gas, wood fuel displacing coal, wood material displacing steel/cement, wood products displacing plastics and paper.
Calculations can be stress-tested in the data-file, including all of our carbon accounting and counterfactuals for the fair, apples-to-apples CO2 intensity of wood. For more on our carbon accounting philosophy, please see here.
Recent Commentary: please see our articles here and here. Specifically, this data-file lays out the calculations for our 13-page note. It highlights climate negatives for deforestation, climate positives for using waste wood and wood materials (with some debate around paper), and very strong climate positives for natural gas.