Aargau forest currently stores 40 million tons of CO2
A study by the Aargau Department of Construction, Transport and Environment shows that forests can make a significant contribution to the CO₂ balance. Through near-natural management and increased cascading use of wood, long-term CO₂ storage can be achieved and emissions reduced by up to 3.7 percent.
The Forest Division of the Aargau Department of Construction, Transport and Environment has examined the contribution of the Aargau forest to the canton’s CO2 balance. “The forest is already making a non-negligible contribution to achieving the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but the potential has not yet been exhausted,” writes the department in a press release on the corresponding study. The study identified the forestry sector, wood processing and the construction industry as key players for improvement.
The forestry sector is of the greatest importance. The Aargau forest currently stores 40 million tons of CO2, according to the press release. This corresponds “almost exactly to today’s total annual domestic emissions”. According to the authors of the study, this long-term storage of CO2 must be supported by near-natural management, soil protection and long-term adaptation of the forests to climate change.
Wood processing and the construction industry can contribute to improvements to a lesser extent. The modelling of a CO2-optimized scenario has shown that increased cascading use of wood as a resource can store or avoid up to an additional 11.1 tonnes of CO2 by 2100. This corresponds to an annual reduction in emissions in the canton of Aargau of up to 3.7 percent. Cascade use refers to the repeated use of the raw material wood in a circular economy. However, if the same amount of wood is used directly for energy production, the contribution is reduced to 6.5 million tons or a maximum of 2.2 percent CO2 reduction.