Comparison of greenhouse gas emissions from forest operations in Finland and Sweden

Abstract

Forest operations use inputs of external energy, which should be considered when environmental impact in the forest sector is of concern. Operations are highly mechanized in Finland and Sweden, and thus are sources of greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, efficiency has increased as a result of mechanization. Two studies of environmental loads from forest operations in Sweden and Finland are compared in this paper. There are similarities in the forest management system and technology used, but the level of mechanization in thinnings and terrain difficulty differ. Differences occur between countries in CO 2 , CO and NO emissions. These are attributed to variations in operations, technology, and also to quality of fuel used. Some of the differences observed between the two countries are due to the origin of basic data as well as methods used in transforming data to information relevant for environmental assessments. This experience will enable better life cycle assessments where forest operations constitute an important part of the environmental load.