1-12-2015

The Environmental Impact of

Industrial Bamboo ProductsLife-cycle Assessment and Carbon

Sequestration

Pablo van der Lugt - MSc Eng PhD

MOSO International / Delft University of Technology

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Carbon Sequestration - Bamboo Forests

IPCC Guidelines Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses

(AFOLU)

• Responsible for 30% of GHG – largely excluded UNFCC

• Forest level (chapter 4) - REDD+

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Carbon Sequestration - Bamboo Forests

IPCC Guidelines Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses

(AFOLU)

• Responsible for 30% of GHG – largely excluded UNFCC

• Forest level (chapter 4) - REDD+

Source: Y. Kuehl , Y. Li & G. Henley (2013)

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Carbon Sequestration - Durable Products

IPCC Guidelines Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses

(AFOLU)

• Responsible for 30% of GHG – largely excluded UNFCC

• Forest level (chapter 4) - REDD+

• Durable Products Pool (chapter 12)

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Tel Aviv University,

Israël

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ACG Glass Head Office,

Belgium

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Madrid International

Airport, Spain

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Assessing CO2 balance of Bamboo Products

• For full picture of environmental impact:

• Analyse complete life cycle from ‘Cradle till Grave’:

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Measuring environmental impact

• Based on MOSO production chain – best practice

• 2010: LCA & carbon footprint executed by TU Delft

• 2015: Update (new products, latest production figures)

• ISO 14040 & 14044 compliant

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10. Pressing (1)

10. Pressing (2)

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Emissions per Process

• 3 main production technologies:

– Laminated strips (sidepressed /

plain pressed)

– Compressed strips – Strand

Woven Bamboo (high density)

– Flattened bamboo

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production

bamboo

use

MOSO

CO2 CO2

Captured CO2

End of Lifebamboo

plantation

waste

electricity

Fossil fuels

(oil, gas, etc)electricity

Carbon Sequestration – Product level

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Carbon Sequestration – Global level

The human role of the CO2 emissions is three-fold (period 2000-2010):

• 6.4 Gt carbon emissions per year caused by burning of fossil fuels

• 1.93 Gt carbon emissions per year caused by deforestation

• 0.85 Gt carbon sequestration per year by re-growth of forests

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Carbon Sequestration – Global level

The human role of the CO2 emissions is three-fold (period 2000-2010):

• 6.4 Gt carbon emissions per year caused by burning of fossil fuels

• 1.93 Gt carbon emissions per year caused by deforestation

• 0.85 Gt carbon sequestration per year by re-growth of forests

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Carbon Sequestration - China

• Global carbon sequestration driven by increasing demand

• Market growth: 20-25%

• Actual Moso resource surface growth 2004-2011: 5,5% annual growth

• Carbon store Moso plantation 55 tC/ha (Zhou and Jiang 2004);

conservative assumption

• Result: credit 0,674 – 0,707 kg CO2 / kg bamboo product

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• CO2 neutral over full life cycle (all solid bamboo materials)

• Credits for carbon sequestration and green electricity production

compensate emissions by transport, energy and glue

Carbon Footprint - Results

Flattened bamboo

(MOSO bamboo forest)

Plybamboo

(plainpressed / side

pressed)

SWB outdoor (MOSO

Bamboo X-treme)

SWB indoor (High

Density

-0,800

-0,600

-0,400

-0,200

0,000

0,200

0,400

0,600

0,800

Carbon footprint over life cycle (CO2eq / kg product)

Flattened bamboo (flooring)

Plybamboo (3ply panel, PP, C)

SWB indoor (beam, N)

SWB outdoor (decking)

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• Compared to other commonly used building materials

• Carbon footprint per cubic meter material

• Bamboo materials & softwood outperform hardwood, plastics & metals

• Flattened bamboo most sustainable option available

Carbon Footprint - Results

Flattened bamboo

(MOSO bamboo

forest)

Plybamboo

(plainpressed / side

pressed)

SWB outdoor

(MOSO Bamboo X-

treme)

SWB indoor (High

Density

-613 -220 -484 -141 -334 42077 2904

554

14429

32423

-5000

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

Flattenedbamboo

Plybamboo SWB indoor SWBoutdoor

Europeansoftwood

Merantiplantation

Merantinaturalforest

PVC Reinforcedconcrete

Steel Aluminium

Carbon footprint over life cycle (CO2eq/m3)

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Substitution Potential Case: Wood Innovation & Design Center

Prince George, USA

Design: Michael Green

2750 m3 of wood

3960 tons CO2 avoided

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• Compared to other commonly used building materials

• Carbon footprint per cubic meter material

• Bamboo materials & softwood outperform hardwood, plastics & metals

• Flattened bamboo most sustainable option available

Carbon Footprint - Results

Flattened bamboo

(MOSO bamboo

forest)

Plybamboo

(plainpressed / side

pressed)

SWB outdoor

(MOSO Bamboo X-

treme)

SWB indoor (High

Density

-613 -220 -484 -141 -334 42077 2904

554

14429

32423

-5000

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

Flattenedbamboo

Plybamboo SWB indoor SWBoutdoor

Europeansoftwood

Merantiplantation

Merantinaturalforest

PVC Reinforcedconcrete

Steel Aluminium

Carbon footprint over life cycle (CO2eq/m3)

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Substitution Potential Case: Wood Innovation & Design Center

Prince George, USA

Design: Michael Green

2750 m3 of wood

3960 tons CO2 avoided

Bamboo: 4200 ~4700 tons CO2 avoided!

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Not even taking into account:• Annual yield

• Additional growth related environmental benefits vs wood: – annual harvesting provides better growth > no deforestation

– reforestation on degraded land possible

– short establishment timeh

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

RegularTeak

EuropeanOak

Scots Pine WesternRed Cedar

Eucalyptus A-qualitymaterial(Moso)

A-qualitymaterial

(Guadua)

SWB(Moso)

SWB(Guadua)

Flattenedbamboo(Moso)

Flattenedbamboo

(Guadua)

An

nu

al yie

ld (

m3

/ha

)

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Bamboo Growing Area

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Bamboo’s Potential for Climate Change Mitigation

• Forest level reforestation degraded land

• Durable Products Pool rapidly renewable, carbon

negative substitute for carbon intensive materials

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Bamboo’s Potential for Climate Change Mitigation

Needs:

• Clear recognition bamboo within UNFCC framework

– Compliance market (e.g. via CDM, REDD+?)

– Voluntary market (e.g. VCS, Gold standard, etc)

• Explicit inclusion in national & international forestry

standards and definitions (often outside scope)

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More information?

• INBAR Technical Report no. 35

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Points for improvement

• Energy (52-63%):

• Higher energy efficiency; e.g. co-generation electricity & heat

• Sustainable energy; e.g. PV panels on factory

• Transport

• International (15-25%): closer sourcing (e.g. Africa, Latin America)

• National (10%): larger and more efficient trucks (e.g. EURO 5)

• Resins (3-16%)

• More formaldehyde free resins (e.g. EPI)

• Use of fully biobased resins