Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2003
2006
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7.3
Examples of comparison of SPOT5 HRG infrared images from different years evidenc-
ing clearcut areas (
white delineated polygons
with the clearcut year). The images were acquired
in late spring or summer of 2003 and 2006. Both cases
a
and
b
are from Regione Molise (from
Chirici et al.
2011
modified)
According to ISTAT, 54 % of annual harvested volume is represented by coppice
forests, corresponding to 4.26 10
6
m
3
. Thus wood removals through clear cuts
in Italy officially represent an annual loss of carbon of about 6 Mt CO
2
.
As a conclusion, on the basis of the underestimation of official statistics on
clear cuts harvesting presented above, it can be hypothesized an underestimation
on carbon losses at national level of about 2 Mt CO
2
.
7.3 Wood Products
After forest harvesting, wood products continue to store carbon for a certain time,
from some weeks for paper to many years for timber beam used in construction.
At the end of their life cycle, wood products can be recycled, stored in landfills or
