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Bio-based construction materials for climate change mitigation: scalability and sustainability

Hart, James Thomas Thornton

Authors

James Thomas Thornton Hart



Abstract

Construction products made from timber and other organic materials are understood to contribute to climate change mitigation by causing relatively low greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chain, whilst also storing biogenic carbon within the material itself. A logical progression would therefore be policy support for a steep increase in the penetration of the construction market by such materials. This raises questions that this work aims to resolve, primarily in the context of using more timber – ideally from domestic forests – in UK construction. These questions relate to the scale of any climate change mitigation and the validity and accuracy of methodologies and assumptions used to quantify the impacts, taking account of the uncertainties associated with modelling parameters. This work employs a novel model for exploring the flow of carbon from field and forest to buildings and – eventually – back to the atmosphere or to semi-permanent storage below ground. The model is driven by changes in demand for construction timber, and it incorporates dynamic features and a stochastic approach to the use of uncertain variables. Results suggest that when coupled with a domestic afforestation agenda strong enough to support future demand, an increase in timber use can lead to an increase in terrestrial carbon pools of 47 MtC after 100 years (albeit too late to contribute significantly to 2050 emissions targets). The benefits may be much reduced, however, if the link to afforestation and reforestation is weak, which is likely to be the case if the additional demand is met through imports. Products from faster-growing crops have advantages and should be further developed and deployed as a complementary strategy. In the medium term, more impressive results can be achieved by focussing on timber waste management rather than demand growth, with one reasonable scenario reducing emissions by 14 MtC by 2050.

Citation

Hart, J. T. T. Bio-based construction materials for climate change mitigation: scalability and sustainability. (Thesis). Edinburgh Napier University

Thesis Type Thesis
Deposit Date Mar 22, 2023
Publicly Available Date Mar 24, 2023
DOI https://doi.org/10.17869/enu.2022.3055273
Award Date Sep 27, 2022

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