ENERGY REQUIREMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FOREST OPERATIONS IN SPAIN S. González-García1*, A. Gallego1, S. Berg2, G. Feijoo1 and M.T. Moreira1 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela 2 The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk), Uppsala, Sweden. * saraglez@usc.es FRAMEWORK Forests play a vital role for rural as well as urban populations all over the world. They constitute an essential natural resource that provides multiple benefits to people. Conservation and sustainable management of forests are closely linked with global issues such as food supply and environmental protection. In forest management several products can be obtained: good quality stem wood, bark and low quality wood for bioenergy, resins … In addition, forests can be considered as carbon sinks and supply other sources of non-wood products such as medical plants. Forests are facing several environmental problems created by modern industrial society, impacts as acidification, eutrophication and global warming. The increasing environmental awareness of consumers requires more comprehensive knowledge concerning the environmental impacts of the forest practices. In fact, forest sector plays an important role in the Spanish socio-economic development. GOAL & SCOPE The study of Spanish forest operations (Eucalyptus plantations) for pulp production Functional Unit: 1m3 solid under bark (sub) Location: Galicia (Spain) SILVICULTURE OPERATIONS LOGGING OPERATIONS SECONDARY HAULING CUT-OVER CLEARING SCARIFICATION FELLING (CHAIN SAW) LOADING System boundaries FERTILIZING HERBICIDE AP. PLANTING FELLING (HARVESTER) TRANSPORT FORWARDING UN-LOADING FERTILIZNG HERBICIDE AP. CLEANING LIFE CYCLE IMPACT ASSESSMENT The impact assessment phase was carried out according to CML 2000 methodology [1]. The impact categories considered were: Global Warming Potential (GWP), Acidification Potential (AP), Eutrophication Potential (EP) and Photo-Oxidant Formation (POP) ENERGY REQUIREMENTS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 380 MJ/m3sub INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS Energy requirements in Spanish scenario are higher than other European scenarios reported in almost all the subsystems in which the forest operations were divided (excluding secondary hauling) [2-4]. The productivity of forests as well as the degree of mechanization of forest operations seems to stand for the main influence to the environmental burdens. Logging operations can be considered as one of the main hot spots due to its important contribution to nearly all impact categories. Silviculture operations were the main contributors to EP (Fertilizing step). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was developed within the framework of the BIORENEW Integrated Project (Project reference: NMP2-CT-2006-026456). S. González-García would like to express her gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Education for financial support (Grant reference AP2005-2374). The authors would also like to thank ENCE mill for the inventory data provided. The paper has also gained from the cooperation with workings in project number 518128 EFORWOOD within Thematic priority 6.3 Global Change and Ecosystems. REFERENCES [1] www.leidenuniv.nl/interfac/cml/ssp/projects/lca2/index.html [2] Schwaiger, H. and Zimmer, B. 2001 A comparison of fuel consumption and Greenhouse gas emissions from forest operations in Europe. In T. Karjalainen, B. Zimmer, S. Berg, J. Welling, H. Schwaiger, L. Finér and P. Cortijo Energy, carbon and other material flows in the Life Cycle Assessment of forestry and forest products – Achievements of the working group 1 of the COST action E9 (Discussion paper 10, pp. 33-53). Joensuu: European Forest Institute. [3] González-García, S., Berg, S., Feijoo, G. and Moreira, M.T. (2008): Evaluation of Forest Operations in Spain under a Life Cycle Assessment Perspective. Submitted to Forestry. [4] González-García, S., Berg, S., Feijoo, G. and Moreira, M.T. (2008): Environmental Impacts of Production and Supply of Pulpwood: Spanish and Swedish Case Studies. Submitted to Int J of LCA.