Page 8 - InnoRenew CoE International Conference 2024

Wood products manufacturing in Slovenia: overview of the data to

support green transition of the forest-based value-chain

Daša Majcen , Andreja Kutnar 2
1*
1 InnoRenew CoE, Livade 6a, 6310 Izola, Slovenia; e-mail: dasa.majcen@innorenew.eu
2 University of Primorska, Titov trg 4, 6000 Koper, Slovenia and InnoRenew CoE, Livade 6a, 6310 Izola, Slovenia, andreja.kutnar@innorenew.eu

Wood products manufacturing is an important industrial sector worldwide, as well as in Slovenia. It represents a
significant share of Slovenia’s GDP, accounting for EUR 2.5 billion income in 2022 (SURS, 2024), which is over

8% of the total income generated by manufacturing activities. Besides its economic importance, the sector
plays a crucial role in climate change mitigation as wood-based carbon storage can offset CO2 emissions in
the mid-term (United Nations, 2012; Johnston et al, 2019; Cordier et al, 2022), particularly if the government
encourages the production of long-lasting products (such as construction wood) as opposed to using wood
for short-lived products (fuel, paper). In Slovenia, the available studies examining this potential are currently
limited to the reporting obligations within the UNFCCC. The carbon pool of Harvested Wood Products (HWPs)
is calculated according to the IPCC methodology, using the so-called Tier 2 method, which shows carbon stored
in three categories of wood products (sawn wood, wood for boards, and wood for cellulose/pulp), which are all
intermediate categories. Such a calculation does not enable an accurate prediction of long -term carbon storage.

In order to detail the existing calculation further (possibly as a Tier 3 calculation under the IPCC guidelines) and
use it as a basis for policy measures, robust historical wood production data is needed for primary and secondary
wood products. By acquiring reliable data of the current market situation, the flow of wood and their evolution

through time can be well understood and implementation of effective sectoral measures becomes feasible. This

study presents how this knowledge gap in data can serve as a basis for reviewing carbon flows within wood products
manufacturing in Slovenia, similar to the state-of-the-art studies worldwide (Paluš et al, 2020; Jasinevičius et
al.,2018).

Keywords: harvested wood products, forest-based value chain, carbon fl ow

Acknowledgment: The author gratefully acknowledges receiving funding from European Commission under
the H2020-MSCA-IF-2020 program, Grant Agreement #101024687 and the European Commission for
funding the InnoRenew project (Grant Agreement #739574) under the Horizon 2020 Widespread-Teaming
program and the Republic of Slovenia (investment funding of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Regional
Development Fund).

REFERENCES

Sordier, S., Blanchet, P., Robichaud, F., Amor, B. 2022. Dynamic LCA of the increased use of wood in buildings
and its consequences: Integration of CO2 sequestration and material substitutions, Building and Environment,
Volume 226, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109695.

8 11–12 SEPTEMBER 2024 I IZOLA, SLOVENIA