Global land and carbon consequences of mass timber products
Abstract Mass timber products can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing steel and cement. However, the increase in wood demand raises wood prices, and the environmental consequences of these market changes are unclear. Here we investigate the global carbon and land use impacts of adopting mas...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60245-y |
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| author | Kai Lan Alice Favero Yuan Yao Robert O. Mendelsohn Hannah Szu-Han Wang |
| author_facet | Kai Lan Alice Favero Yuan Yao Robert O. Mendelsohn Hannah Szu-Han Wang |
| author_sort | Kai Lan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Mass timber products can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing steel and cement. However, the increase in wood demand raises wood prices, and the environmental consequences of these market changes are unclear. Here we investigate the global carbon and land use impacts of adopting mass timber products, focusing on cross-laminated timber as a case study. Our results show that higher wood prices reduce the production of traditional wood products but expand productive forestland by 30.7–36.5 million hectares from 2020 to 2100 and lead to more intensive forest management. If the cumulative global cross-laminated timber production reaches 3.6 to 9.6 billion m3 by 2100, long-term carbon storage can increase by 20.3–25.2 GtCO2e, primarily in forests (16.1–17.7 GtCO2e) and in cross-laminated timber panels (4.1–8.1 GtCO2e). Including emission reductions from steel, cement, and traditional wood products, the net reduction of life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions will be 25.6–39.0 GtCO2e. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-89ada4bc45cf47d2ad3900e2850c849c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-89ada4bc45cf47d2ad3900e2850c849c2025-08-20T02:03:32ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-0116111210.1038/s41467-025-60245-yGlobal land and carbon consequences of mass timber productsKai Lan0Alice Favero1Yuan Yao2Robert O. Mendelsohn3Hannah Szu-Han Wang4Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale School of the Environment, Yale UniversityRTI InternationalCenter for Industrial Ecology, Yale School of the Environment, Yale UniversityYale School of the Environment, Yale UniversityCenter for Industrial Ecology, Yale School of the Environment, Yale UniversityAbstract Mass timber products can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing steel and cement. However, the increase in wood demand raises wood prices, and the environmental consequences of these market changes are unclear. Here we investigate the global carbon and land use impacts of adopting mass timber products, focusing on cross-laminated timber as a case study. Our results show that higher wood prices reduce the production of traditional wood products but expand productive forestland by 30.7–36.5 million hectares from 2020 to 2100 and lead to more intensive forest management. If the cumulative global cross-laminated timber production reaches 3.6 to 9.6 billion m3 by 2100, long-term carbon storage can increase by 20.3–25.2 GtCO2e, primarily in forests (16.1–17.7 GtCO2e) and in cross-laminated timber panels (4.1–8.1 GtCO2e). Including emission reductions from steel, cement, and traditional wood products, the net reduction of life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions will be 25.6–39.0 GtCO2e.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60245-y |
| spellingShingle | Kai Lan Alice Favero Yuan Yao Robert O. Mendelsohn Hannah Szu-Han Wang Global land and carbon consequences of mass timber products Nature Communications |
| title | Global land and carbon consequences of mass timber products |
| title_full | Global land and carbon consequences of mass timber products |
| title_fullStr | Global land and carbon consequences of mass timber products |
| title_full_unstemmed | Global land and carbon consequences of mass timber products |
| title_short | Global land and carbon consequences of mass timber products |
| title_sort | global land and carbon consequences of mass timber products |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60245-y |
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