EUBCE 2026 - Maria Alejandra RONDON VILLABONA - Accounting for Spatio-Temporal Carbon Dynamics in the Life Cycle Assessment of Harvested Wood Products

Accounting for Spatio-Temporal Carbon Dynamics in the Life Cycle Assessment of Harvested Wood Products

Short Introductive summary

The use of biomass feedstocks is central to the biobased economy, offering pathways to mitigate climate change. However, increasing demand for wood-based feedstocks for harvested wood products (HWPs) can drive land-use change (LUC) and alter forest management (FM) practices, affecting carbon pools and fluxes. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is commonly used to evaluate environmental impacts, yet conventional approaches are static and overlook the spatial and temporal dynamics of biobased systems. Carbon effects from LUC and FM vary with local biophysical conditions, while biogenic carbon cycles (uptake, storage, and release) introduce additional temporal variability. This study expands static LCA toward Dynamic LCA (DLCA) by incorporating spatially and temporally explicit effects of LUC, FM, and biogenic carbon dynamics into carbon assessments of HWPs. A pulp-based value chain is used as a case study, sourcing wood from Brazil (eucalyptus plantations) and Austria (mixed managed forests). Using spatial analysis and IPCC methods, carbon stock changes are quantified and integrated into DLCA to capture temporal carbon emissions and removals over the product’s lifetime.

A. Rondon Villabona, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
M. de Jong, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
A. Duden, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
B. Corona, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
M. Junginger, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
F. van der Hilst, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
L. Shen, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS