Life cycle assessment of North American forest harvesting operations and wood processing for sustainable materials and energy products: A systematic review

Abstract

This study provides a systematic review of life cycle assessment for forest harvesting systems in North America, to quantitatively assess the carbon footprint and overall impacts of lumber production and various harvested wood products and their use as biomaterials and bioenergy. The reviewed studies revealed strong regional differentiation in harvesting practices and environmental performance. Mechanized systems in the Southeast US exhibited higher diesel consumption and net carbon removal per hectare due to intensive site preparation and whole-tree harvesting. Pacific Northwest operations relied comparatively more on cable yarding and manual felling on steep terrain, resulting in lower emissions per unit volume. Transportation and residue management were consistently identified as major contributors on a per-unit-volume basis. Processing stages, particularly kiln-drying, were the most energy-intensive processes (5151 MJ/m 3 of lumber in the SE), although more than 70% of energy demand was met using wood-based residues. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that allocation approach significantly influenced climate impacts. Economic allocation increased the GWP of higher value wood products, whereas mass allocation increased the GWP of low-value byproducts, including dirty chips (251%) or sawdust briquette (2.3-fold), reflecting the lower environmental burden assigned to co-products under economic allocation. Overall, the findings confirm that sustainably managed forest harvesting supply chains function as net carbon sinks while offering significant potential to displace fossil-based energy and materials.