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Title: Have product substitution carbon benefits been overestimated? A sensitivity analysis of key assumptions
Abstract

Substitution of wood for more fossil carbon intensive building materials has been projected to result in major climate mitigation benefits often exceeding those of the forests themselves. A reexamination of the fundamental assumptions underlying these projections indicates long-term mitigation benefits related to product substitution may have been overestimated 2- to 100-fold. This suggests that while product substitution has limited climate mitigation benefits, to be effective the value and duration of the fossil carbon displacement, the longevity of buildings, and the nature of the forest supplying building materials must be considered.

 
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NSF-PAR ID:
10302442
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Publisher / Repository:
IOP Publishing
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Environmental Research Letters
Volume:
14
Issue:
6
ISSN:
1748-9326
Page Range / eLocation ID:
Article No. 065008
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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