Impact of Forestry Products on Climate Change Mitigation in India
Sujatha D, Pandey C. N, Nath S.K

Abstract
Climate change has emerged as a serious global environmental issue and poses a threat and challenge to human kind. Efficient utilization of forest products especially wood, which has carbon as its main element offers significant opportunities to reduce carbon in the air and thereby contribute to the climate change mitigation. Keeping this in view, IPIRTI has carried out a life cycle inventory on plywood and bamboo mat based composites so as to find whether the processing, development and usage of these products are carbon sink or neutral. The Carbon Emissions Audit identified that for the manufacture of Bamboo mat based composites per ton product a total of 1.308 tons of carbon dioxide emission equivalent is obtained compared to the emissions produced by steel being 3.8 tons and for Aluminium and plastic is 1.5 tons and 3.0 tons respectively. Studies have revealed that the processing of wood to panel products leads to a net carbon gain of 0.140 tons equivalent carbon dioxide per ton of plywood, while the measurement of carbon footprint of bamboo products from procurement of raw material to finished products indicates that there is a net gain of carbon in the process resulting in substantial storing of carbon.

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