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KILN DRYING IMPACT ON

CLIMATE CHANGEC H A R L E S D. R AY

T H E P E N N S Y LVA N I A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

“New England Forestry Foundation is working to address climate change with a three-pronged, tree-friendly effort:

• We’re working to make sure that forests are put to work in the best possible way to minimize the extent and impacts of climate change,

• We’re working to pilot the best approaches to addressing climate change on our own lands, and

• We’re trying to make sure forest landowners have the information they need to manage their forests well in the face of climate change.”

- http://newenglandforestry.org/2017/12/07/neff-takes-on-climate-change

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Milota, “Emissions from Wood Drying” (2000)

THESE WERE EMISSIONS IN 2000

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Milota, “Emissions from Wood Drying” (2000)

OZONE WAS THE CONCERN BACK THEN

Milota, “Emissions from Wood Drying” (2000)

CO2 WAS NOT A POLLUTANT, UNTIL…

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“An Inconvenient Truth” - 2006

“An Inconvenient Truth” - 2006

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Original “hockey stick” temperature graph in Nature, 1998. The Y axis shows the Northern hemisphere mean temperature, in degrees Celsius; the zero line corresponds to the 1902 – 1980 mean. Credit: "Global-scale Temperature Patterns and Climate Forcing over the Past Six Centuries," by Michael E. Mann et al. in Nature, Vol. 392, April 23, 1998

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Data source: U.S. EPA, 2016

CO2 DWARFS ALL OTHER “POLLUTANTS”

“ANTHROPOGENIC” CO2

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CO2 DECREASE IN U.S. IS ALMOST ENTIRELY DUE TO NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION

Energy Usage is holding steady, but transitioning away from coal, so CO2 emissions are dropping.

Petroleum consumption slightly dropping, Natural gas increasing and coal decreasing due to power plant conversion.

AND POWER PLANTS ARE THE KEY

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USA17%

China11%

Canada11%

Russia8%Germany

5%

Sweden 4%

Brazil3%

Others41%

World Lumber Production

Source: http://www.fao.org/forestry/statistics/80938@180723/en/

Source: Howard and Westby, US Forest Products Laboratory, Research Paper FPL–RP–676

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Bergman and Bowe, “Environmental Impact of Producing Hardwood Lumber Using Life-Cycle Inventory” (2007)

Dry Kiln Emission Softwood ‐West Softwood ‐ South Hardwood Total U.S. LumberCO2 kg/mbf (biomass) 302 498 753

CO2 kg/mbf (fossil) 117 77 245

Total CO2 emissions kg/mbf 419 575 998Annual Board Feet Production bf 15,000,000,000 15,000,000,000 10,000,000,000 40,000,000,000

Total CO2 emissions kg 6,285,000,000 8,625,000,000 9,979,200,000 24,889,200,000

Biomass CO2 emissions kg 4,530,000,000 7,470,000,000 7,532,800,000 19,532,800,000

Fossil fuel CO2 emissions kg 1,755,000,000 1,155,000,000 2,446,400,000 5,356,400,000Total CO2 emissions metric tons 6,285,000 8,625,000 9,979,200 24,889,200Biomass CO2 emissions metric tons 4,530,000 7,470,000 7,532,800 19,532,800Fossil fuel CO2 emissions metric tons 1,755,000 1,155,000 2,446,400 5,356,400Total CO2 emissions, % of US total CO2 emissions 0.11% 0.16% 0.18% 0.45%Biomass CO2 emissions, % of US total CO2 emissions 0.08% 0.14% 0.14% 0.36%Fossil fuel CO2 emissions, % of US total CO2 emissions 0.03% 0.02% 0.04% 0.10%

Source: Penn State Wood Operations Laboratory, 2018

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U.S. Down 12% from 2005

Lumber Drying

I M PAC T O F A 1 0 - M M B F D RY K I L N O P E R AT I O N

Softwood ‐West

Softwood ‐South Hardwood

CO2 emissions metric tons/mbf 0.42 0.58 1.00

CO2 emissions metric tons/mmbf 419 575 998

CO2 emissions metric tons/10 mmbf 4,190 5,750 9,979

A 10% increase in kiln efficiency (or 10% decrease in production) would decrease CO2 emissions by about 998 tons per year in a 10 million bf hardwood lumber operation!

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HARDWOOD SAWMILLS (BERGMAN AND BOWE, 2007)

• More on-site wood fuel consumption would produce less fossil greenhouse gases.

• Increasing the level of air drying lumber, especially for species where color is not a problem, prior to kiln drying would lower the amount of energy required for the drying process. Therefore improving air drying methods would lower energy use while maintaining lumber quality and reduce the environmental impact of hardwood lumber.

• Drying consumes the highest proportion of fuel. Decreasing overall energy consumption by upgrading or overhauling existing old and inefficient dry kiln facilities.

500 X

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S O W H AT I S T H E TOTA L P OT E N T I A L I M PAC T O F L U M B E R K I L N D RY I N G O N G L O B A L C O 2 E M I S S I O N S A N D C L I M AT E C H A N G E ?

Source: https://climateactiontracker.org

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Metric Quantity

Global Lumber Production, bf 235,294,117,647

Global CO2 Emissions fromLumber Production, kg 146,407,058,824

Global CO2 Emissions from Lumber Production, metric tons 146,407,059Total Global CO2 Emissions from all sources, metric tons (2009, EIA/DOE) 30,398,000,000

Total CO2 Emissions from kiln drying, as % of Global Total 0.48%

S O W H AT I S T H E TOTA L I M PAC T O F L U M B E R K I L N D RY I N G O N G L O B A L C O 2 E M I S S I O N S ?

Metric Quantity

10% Reduction in Global CO2 Emissions from Lumber Production, metric tons 14,640,706Tons CO2 annual reductionnecessary to decrease global warming 1 degree C by 2100

About 50,000,000,000

Percentage of necessary CO2 reduction achievable by kiln operators, 10% improvement in efficiency 15/50,000, or 0.03%Possible temperature change due to 10% increase in lumber kiln drying efficiency, globally ‐0.03 degrees C

S O W H AT I S T H E TOTA L P OT E N T I A L I M PAC T O F L U M B E R K I L N D RY I N G O N G L O B A L C L I M AT E C H A N G E ?

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TAKE-AWAYS• Lumber dry kilns produce about 0.45% of all U.S. (0.48% globally)

anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Only about ¼ of that 0.45% (or, 0.10% of all) is “additional” CO2 from fossil fuel combustion…the rest is “carbon neutral” CO2 from wood combustion

• These numbers assume all lumber production is kiln-dried in biomass or fossil-fuel heated kilns; the actual percentages will be different for air-dried, DH, Solar, Vacuum, etc.

• Hardwood kilns produce about 1 metric ton of CO2 per mbf, or about 9,979 tons per 10 million bf. A 10% increase in kiln efficiency (or 10% decrease in production) would decrease CO2 emissions by about 998 tons per year (or about 500 cars) in a 10 million bf operation.

TAKE-AWAYS• Fossil-fuel kilns contribute “additional” CO2 to the atmosphere,

whereas biomass kilns contribute “carbon-neutral” CO2.

• Increased use of air-drying, pre-drying, and kiln upgrades will decrease kiln-related CO2 emissions.

• If all lumber in the world was dried 10% more efficiently, about 15 million fewer tons of CO2 would be released into the atmosphere each year. This 15 million tons decrease would slow global warming by 0.03 degrees C by the year 2100.