As wood products in use store carbon and can contribute to reducing the concentration of atmospheric CO₂, the improved and enhanced use of wood products can be a successful measure in climate change mitigation. This study estimates the amount of carbon stored in the Hungarian harvested wood product (HWP) pool and the CO₂ emissions and removals of the pool. According to our results, the total carbon stock of the Hungarian HWP pool is continuously increasing. We estimated the total carbon stock of the HWP pool to be 17,306 kt C in the year 2020. Our results show that the HWP pool in Hungary is a carbon sink in most parts of the time series, with some years where it turns to a source of emissions. We carried out a simple projection up to 2070, assuming a constant inflow for the projected years that is equal to the average inflow of the last five historic years. This resulted in a decreasing trend in CO₂ removals, with removals already very close to zero in 2070. We concluded that in order to achieve significant future carbon sinks in the HWP pool technological improvements are needed, such as increasing the lifetime of the wood products and expanding the carbon storage capacity of wood products by reusing and recycling wood in a cascade system.

Harvested wood products (HWPs) store a significant amount of carbon, and their lifetime extension and appropriate waste management, recycling, and reuse can contribute remarkably to the achievement of climate goals. In this study, we examined the carbon storage and CO₂ and CH₄ emissions under different scenarios of 200,000 m³ particleboard manufactured in 2020 by a hypothetical manufacturer. The scope of our investigation was to model the effects of a changing product lifetime, recycling rates and waste management practices on the duration of the carbon storage in wood panels and on their emission patterns. The aim of the investigation was to identify the most climate-friendly practices and find the combination of measures related to HWP production and waste management with the highest climate mitigation effect. We used the newly developed HWP-RIAL (recycling, incineration and landfill) model for the projections, which is a combination of two IPCC models parametrized for Hungarian circumstances and supplemented with a self-developed recycling and waste-route-selection submodule. The model runs covered the period 2020–2130. According to the results, the combined scenario with bundled mitigation activities had the largest mitigation potential in the modelled period, resulting in 32% emission reduction by 2050 as compared to the business-as-usual scenario. Amongst individual mitigation activities, increased recycling rates had the largest mitigation effect. The lifetime extension of particleboard can be a complementary measure to support climate mitigation efforts, along with the concept of cascade use and that of circular bioeconomy. Results showed that landfilled wood waste is a significant source of CH₄ emissions on the long term; thus, incineration of wood waste is preferable to landfilling.

Forest management allows the sustained removal of significant amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Within different activities in the forest, wood utilisation has the most significant man-made environmental impact which affects the carbon balance, which is important to know, to be able to accurately identify its role in climate change. This study aims to determine the carbon footprint of logging during utilisation based on scenario analysis in national default and theoretical assortment structures (11 additional scenarios for each forest stand) within the entire life cycle of raw wood products. Based on a common functional unit (100 m³ of cut wood), a comparative environmental life cycle analysis (LCA) for intermediate and final cutting was performed in shortwood forestry work systems in beech (Fagus spp.), oak (Quercus spp.), spruce (Picea spp.), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), and hybrid poplar (Populus x euramericana) stands in Hungary. After obtaining the results, the present study calculated the carbon footprint order for the utilisation life cycle phases and the entire tree utilisation life cycle. The distribution of absolute carbon footprint (ACF: considered emitted CO₂ from fossil and biotic origins together) by final cutting exhibited the following order: hybrid poplar (6%)—spruce (8%)—beech (26%)—oak (27%)—black locust (33%). The ACF ranking for the whole technological life cycle (intermediate and final cutting, 400 m3 of cut wood) was hybrid poplar– spruce—oak—beech–black locust. The carbon footprint rankings of the studied stands were expanded to the national level.

Almost half of the total area of Hungary is arable land. Nearly one-third of this area is poor-quality arable land where agriculture would be uneconomical. Energy plantations can be grown extremely well on poor-quality land. Currently, the carbon neutrality of wood as a raw material must also be justified, considering several factors. Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) was developed as a tool for sustainable, decision-supporting, environmental management, which is an outstanding tool for the well-established analysis of environmental impacts, although the application of it in forestry remained a challenge for the LCA community. No sector specific LCA and life cycle inventory methodology has been developed in forestry; thus, implementing such a methodology remains a big challenge. Calculated on a common functional unit (100 m³/ha wood chips, 100% energy purpose), we have performed a comparative environmental life cycle assessment for harvesting technologies of short rotation energy plantations (technology related to stands of 3 ha of poplar, 5–10 ha of willow, 20 ha of willow), specifically for the third year harvesting work system. Research results on global warming potential show the carbon footprint of harvesting work systems, the knowledge of which has a strong influence on the environmental consideration of raw material (wood chips) and also on the more precise definition of carbon sequestration capacity. The typical values of carbon balance ratio (1.37–1.46) indicate a positive carbon sequestration potential and a magnitude well within the system boundaries of the third year harvesting work system submodule. The results obtained enable the estimation and prediction of environmental impacts for the whole lifecycle of the plantation.

Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) was developed as a tool for sustainable, decision-supporting environmental management. Applying agricultural sector-LCA in order to achieve both internal (comparative) and external (efficiency enhancing) benefits is a priority. Since the life-cycle assessment of products and processes attracts great interest, applying the method in agriculture is relevant. Our study undertakes a comparative environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) of local arable crop production technologies used for the main cultivated plants: maize, sunflower, lucerne, cereals, and canola (environmental data in the territorial approach calculated on a 1 ha unit and in the quantitative approach calculated on 1 t of produce). We prepared an environmental inventory of the arable crop production technologies, constructed the life-cycle models, and executed the impact assessment. We also compiled an environmental ranking of technologies. In the impact interpretation, we compared the results with the values of short rotation energy plantations in each impact category. We analysed carbon footprints closely. The obtained results help better assess environmental impacts, climate risks, and climate change as they pertain to arable crop production technologies, which advances the selection of appropriate technologies adjusted to environmental sensitivities.

In the construction sector, there is a shift towards environmentally conscious practices that prioritize the minimization of environmental burdens. In this study, we dealt with a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of a wood–aluminum window in two software tools. SimaPro (PRé Sustainability) and Sphera LCA for Experts (formerly known as GaBi) were selected. The results from both software tools were compared to assess the output uniformity of the two selected tools. The results indicate the similarities and differences in the software tools. The most similar results were achieved for impact categories Photochemical Ozone Formation (1.1% difference), Human Toxicity, cancer (total) (3.6% difference), Climate Change (3.7% difference) and for Resource Use, fossils (4.5% difference), respectively. On the other hand, the results were most different in the impact categories Ozone Depletion (84.7% difference), Resource Use, minerals and metals (75% difference), Ecotoxicity, freshwater—inorganics (35.6%) and Ecotoxicity, freshwater (total) (31.2%), respectively. The differences in the LCA results between SimaPro and GaBi were analyzed in-depth and were mainly attributable to using different databases in the transportation process and due to different system boundaries in some processes, with the Ecoinvent data containing significantly more background processes and inconsistencies in the implemented characterization factors.