Carbon Footprint is an indicator that measures the impact of human activities on the environment. The concept of “carbon footprint” originates from “ecological footprint”, mainly expressed as CO2 equivalent (CO2eq), which represents the total greenhouse gas emissions emitted during human production and consumption activities.
Carbon footprint is the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to assess the greenhouse gas emissions directly or indirectly generated by a research object during its lifecycle. For the same object, the difficulty and scope of carbon footprint accounting are greater than carbon emissions, and the accounting results contain information about carbon emissions.
With the increasing severity of global climate change and environmental issues, carbon footprint accounting has become particularly important. It can not only help us more accurately understand the impact of human activities on the environment, but also provide scientific basis for formulating emission reduction strategies and promoting green and low-carbon transformation.
The entire life cycle of bamboo, from growth and development, harvesting, processing and manufacturing, product utilization to disposal, is the full process of carbon cycle, including bamboo forest carbon sink, bamboo product production and use, and carbon footprint after disposal.
This research report attempts to present the value of ecological bamboo forest planting and industrial development for climate adaptation through the analysis of carbon footprint and carbon labeling knowledge, as well as the organization of existing bamboo product carbon footprint research.
1. Carbon footprint accounting
① Concept: According to the definition of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, carbon footprint refers to the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released during human activities or cumulatively emitted throughout the entire lifecycle of a product/service.
Carbon label “is a manifestation of” product carbon footprint “, which is a digital label that marks the full lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of a product from raw materials to waste recycling, providing users with information about the product’s carbon emissions in the form of a label.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a new environmental impact assessment method that has been developed in Western countries in recent years and is still in the stage of continuous research and development. The basic standard for evaluating product carbon footprint is the LCA method, which is considered the best choice to improve the credibility and convenience of carbon footprint calculation.
LCA first identifies and quantifies the consumption of energy and materials, as well as environmental releases throughout the entire lifecycle stage, then evaluates the impact of these consumption and releases on the environment, and finally identifies and evaluates opportunities to reduce these impacts. The ISO 14040 standard, issued in 2006, divides the “life cycle assessment steps” into four stages: determination of purpose and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment, and interpretation.
② Standards and Methods:
There are various methods for calculating carbon footprint at present.
In China, accounting methods can be divided into three categories based on system boundary settings and model principles: Process based Life Cycle Assessment (PLCA), Input Output Life Cycle Assessment (I-OLCA), and Hybrid Life Cycle Assessment (HLCA). Currently, there is a lack of unified national standards for carbon footprint accounting in China.
Internationally, there are three main international standards at the product level: “PAS 2050:2011 Specification for the Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions during the Product and Service Life Cycle” (BSI., 2011), “GHGP Protocol” (WRI, WBCSD, 2011), and “ISO 14067:2018 Greenhouse Gases – Product Carbon Footprint – Quantitative Requirements and Guidelines” (ISO, 2018).
According to the lifecycle theory, PAS2050 and ISO14067 are currently established standards for evaluating product carbon footprint with publicly available specific calculation methods, both of which include two evaluation methods: Business to Customer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B).
The evaluation content of B2C includes raw materials, production and processing, distribution and retail, consumer use, final disposal or recycling, that is, “from cradle to grave”. The B2B evaluation content includes raw materials, production and processing, and transportation to downstream merchants, that is, “from cradle to gate”.
The PAS2050 product carbon footprint certification process consists of three stages: initiation stage, product carbon footprint calculation stage, and subsequent steps. The ISO14067 product carbon footprint accounting process includes five steps: defining the target product, determining the accounting system boundary, defining the accounting time boundary, sorting out the emission sources within the system boundary, and calculating the product carbon footprint.
③ Meaning
By accounting for carbon footprint, we can identify high emission sectors and areas, and take corresponding measures to reduce emissions. Calculating carbon footprint can also guide us to form low-carbon lifestyles and consumption patterns.
Carbon labeling is an important means of revealing greenhouse gas emissions in the production environment or lifecycle of products, as well as a window for investors, government regulatory agencies, and the public to understand the greenhouse gas emissions of production entities. Carbon labeling, as an important means of carbon information disclosure, has been widely accepted by more and more countries.
Agricultural product carbon labeling is the specific application of carbon labeling on agricultural products. Compared to other types of products, the introduction of carbon labels in agricultural products is more urgent. Firstly, agriculture is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions and the largest source of non carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. Secondly, compared to the industrial sector, the disclosure of carbon labeling information in the agricultural production process is not yet complete, which restricts the richness of application scenarios. Thirdly, consumers find it difficult to obtain effective information on the carbon footprint of products on the consumer end. In recent years, a series of studies have revealed that specific consumer groups are willing to pay for low-carbon products, and carbon labeling can precisely compensate for the information asymmetry between producers and consumers, helping to improve market efficiency.
2、 Bamboo industry chain
① Basic situation of bamboo industry chain
The bamboo processing industry chain in China is divided into upstream, midstream, and downstream. Upstream is the raw materials and extracts of various parts of bamboo, including bamboo leaves, bamboo flowers, bamboo shoots, bamboo fibers, and so on. The midstream involves thousands of varieties in multiple fields such as bamboo building materials, bamboo products, bamboo shoots and food, bamboo pulp papermaking, etc; Downstream applications of bamboo products include papermaking, furniture making, medicinal materials, and bamboo cultural tourism, among others.
Bamboo resources are the foundation for the development of the bamboo industry. According to their use, bamboo can be divided into bamboo for timber, bamboo for bamboo shoots, bamboo for pulp, and bamboo for garden decoration. From the nature of bamboo forest resources, the proportion of timber bamboo forest is 36%, followed by bamboo shoots and timber dual-use bamboo forest, ecological public welfare bamboo forest, and pulp bamboo forest, accounting for 24%, 19%, and 14% respectively. Bamboo shoots and scenic bamboo forest have relatively small proportions. China has abundant bamboo resources, with 837 species and an annual output of 150 million tons of bamboo.
Bamboo is the most important bamboo species unique to China. At present, bamboo is the main raw material for bamboo engineering material processing, fresh bamboo shoot market, and bamboo shoot processing products in China. In the future, bamboo will still be the mainstay of bamboo resource cultivation in China. At present, the ten types of key bamboo processing and utilization products in China include bamboo artificial boards, bamboo flooring, bamboo shoots, bamboo pulp and paper making, bamboo fiber products, bamboo furniture, bamboo daily products and handicrafts, bamboo charcoal and bamboo vinegar, bamboo extracts and beverages, economic products under bamboo forests, and bamboo tourism and health care. Among them, bamboo artificial boards and engineering materials are the pillars of China’s bamboo industry.
How to develop the bamboo industry chain under the dual carbon goal
The “dual carbon” goal means that China strives to achieve carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. At present, China has increased its requirements for carbon emissions in multiple industries and actively explored green, low-carbon, and economically efficient industries. In addition to its own ecological advantages, the bamboo industry also needs to explore its potential as a carbon sink and entering the carbon trading market.
(1) Bamboo forest has a wide range of carbon sink resources:
According to current data in China, the area of bamboo forests has significantly increased in the past 50 years. From 2.4539 million hectares in the 1950s and 1960s to 4.8426 million hectares in the early 21st century (excluding data from Taiwan), a year-on-year increase of 97.34%. And the proportion of bamboo forests in the national forest area has increased from 2.87% to 2.96%. Bamboo forest resources have become an important component of China’s forest resources. According to the 6th National Forest Resource Inventory, among the 4.8426 million hectares of bamboo forests in China, there are 3.372 million hectares of bamboo, with nearly 7.5 billion plants, accounting for about 70% of the country’s bamboo forest area.
(2) Advantages of bamboo forest organisms:
① Bamboo has a short growth cycle, strong explosive growth, and has the characteristics of renewable growth and annual harvesting. It has high utilization value and does not have problems such as soil erosion after complete logging and soil degradation after continuous planting. It has great potential for carbon sequestration. The data shows that the annual fixed carbon content in the tree layer of bamboo forest is 5.097t/hm2 (excluding annual litter production), which is 1.46 times that of fast-growing Chinese fir.
② Bamboo forests have relatively simple growth conditions, diverse growth patterns, fragmented distribution, and continuous area variability. They have a large geographical distribution area and a wide range, mainly distributed in 17 provinces and cities, concentrated in Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Zhejiang. They can correspond to rapid and large-scale development in different regions, forming complex and close carbon spatiotemporal patterns and carbon source sink dynamic networks.
(3) The conditions for bamboo forest carbon sequestration trading are mature:
① The recycling industry of bamboo is relatively complete
The bamboo industry spans across the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, with its output value increasing from 82 billion yuan in 2010 to 415.3 billion yuan in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of over 30%. It is expected that by 2035, the output value of the bamboo industry will exceed 1 trillion yuan. At present, a new bamboo industry chain model innovation has been carried out in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, China, focusing on the comprehensive method of dual agricultural carbon sink integration from nature and economy to mutual integration.
② Related policy support
After proposing the dual carbon target, China has issued multiple policies and opinions to guide the entire industry in carbon neutrality management. On November 11, 2021, ten departments including the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Science and Technology issued the “Opinions of Ten Departments on Accelerating the Innovative Development of the Bamboo Industry”. On November 2, 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly released the “Three Year Action Plan to Accelerate the Development of ‘Replacing Plastic with Bamboo’”. In addition, opinions on promoting the development of bamboo industry have been put forward in other provinces such as Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, etc. Under the integration and cooperation of various industrial belts, new trading models of carbon labels and carbon footprints have been introduced.
3、 How to calculate the carbon footprint of the bamboo industry chain?
① Research progress on carbon footprint of bamboo products
At present, there is relatively little research on the carbon footprint of bamboo products both domestically and internationally. According to existing research, the final carbon transfer and storage capacity of bamboo varies under different utilization methods such as unfolding, integration, and recombination, resulting in different impacts on the final carbon footprint of bamboo products.
② The carbon cycle process of bamboo products throughout their entire lifecycle
The entire life cycle of bamboo products, from bamboo growth and development (photosynthesis), cultivation and management, harvesting, raw material storage, product processing and utilization, to waste decomposition (decomposition), is completed. The carbon cycle of bamboo products throughout their lifecycle includes five main stages: bamboo cultivation (planting, management, and operation), raw material production (collection, transportation, and storage of bamboo or bamboo shoots), product processing and utilization (various processes during the processing), sales, use, and disposal (decomposition), involving carbon fixation, accumulation, storage, sequestration, and direct or indirect carbon emissions in each stage (see Figure 3).
The process of cultivating bamboo forests can be regarded as a link of “carbon accumulation and storage”, involving direct or indirect carbon emissions from planting, management, and operation activities.
Raw material production is a carbon transfer link connecting forestry enterprises and bamboo product processing enterprises, and also involves direct or indirect carbon emissions during the harvesting, initial processing, transportation, and storage of bamboo or bamboo shoots.
Product processing and utilization is the carbon sequestration process, which involves the long-term fixation of carbon in products, as well as the direct or indirect carbon emissions from various processes such as unit processing, product processing, and by-product utilization.
After the product enters the consumer use stage, carbon is completely fixed in bamboo products such as furniture, buildings, daily necessities, paper products, etc. As the service life increases, the practice of carbon sequestration will be extended until it is disposed of, decomposing and releasing CO2, and returning to the atmosphere.
According to the study by Zhou Pengfei et al. (2014), bamboo cutting boards under the unfolding mode of bamboo were taken as the research object, and the “Evaluation Specification for Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Goods and Services in the Life Cycle” (PAS 2050:2008) was adopted as the evaluation standard. Choose the B2B evaluation method to comprehensively assess the carbon dioxide emissions and carbon storage of all production processes, including raw material transportation, product processing, packaging, and warehousing (see Figure 4). PAS2050 stipulates that carbon footprint measurement should start from the transportation of raw materials, and the primary level data of carbon emissions and carbon transfer from raw materials, production to distribution (B2B) of mobile bamboo cutting boards should be accurately measured to determine the size of carbon footprint.
Framework for measuring the carbon footprint of bamboo products throughout their entire lifecycle
The collection and measurement of basic data for each stage of the bamboo product lifecycle is the foundation of lifecycle analysis. Basic data includes land occupation, water consumption, consumption of different tastes of energy (coal, fuel, electricity, etc.), consumption of various raw materials, and the resulting material and energy flow data. Conduct carbon footprint measurement of bamboo products throughout their lifecycle through data collection and measurement.
(1) Bamboo forest cultivation stage
Carbon absorption and accumulation: sprouting, growth and development, number of new bamboo shoots;
Carbon storage: bamboo forest structure, bamboo standing degree, age structure, biomass of various organs; Biomass of litter layer; Soil organic carbon storage;
Carbon emissions: carbon storage, decomposition time, and release of litter; Soil respiration carbon emissions; The carbon emissions generated by external energy consumption and material consumption such as labor, power, water and fertilizer for planting, management, and business activities.
(2) Raw material production stage
Carbon transfer: harvesting volume or bamboo shoot volume and their biomass;
Carbon return: residues from logging or bamboo shoots, primary processing residues, and their biomass;
Carbon emissions: The amount of carbon emissions generated by external energy and material consumption, such as labor and power, during the collection, initial processing, transportation, storage, and utilization of bamboo or bamboo shoots.
(3) Product processing and utilization stage
Carbon sequestration: biomass of bamboo products and by-products;
Carbon return or retention: processing residues and their biomass;
Carbon emissions: The carbon emissions generated by external energy consumption such as labor, power, consumables, and material consumption during the processing of unit processing, product processing, and by-product utilization.
(4) Sales and usage stage
Carbon sequestration: biomass of bamboo products and by-products;
Carbon emissions: The amount of carbon emissions generated by external energy consumption such as transportation and labor from enterprises to the sales market.
(5) Disposal stage
Carbon Release: Carbon Storage of Waste Products; Decomposition time and release amount.
Unlike other forest industries, bamboo forests achieve self-renewal after scientific logging and utilization, without the need for reforestation. Bamboo forest growth is in a dynamic balance of growth and can continuously absorb fixed carbon, accumulate and store carbon, and continuously enhance carbon sequestration. The proportion of bamboo raw materials used in bamboo products is not large, and long-term carbon sequestration can be achieved through the use of bamboo products.
At present, there is no research on the carbon cycle measurement of bamboo products throughout their entire life cycle. Due to the long carbon emission time during the sales, use, and disposal stages of bamboo products, their carbon footprint is difficult to measure. In practice, carbon footprint assessment usually focuses on two levels: one is to estimate the carbon storage and emissions in the production process from raw materials to products; The second is to evaluate bamboo products from planting to production.
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