Climate Tech

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products

Welcome to the Age of Decarbonization

Climate solution or marketing buzz?

There are A LOT of buzzwords used to talk about sustainability and climate change. Despite some being more meaningful than others, as climate conversations continue to increase, it is becoming easier to lump them all together and dismiss them as marketing buzz.

Like all trends, climate terms come in and out of fashion. One term whose star seems to be rising is: Decarbonizing / Decarbonization

What Does it Mean?

This is one of those rare occasions where the term actually means exactly what you think it means: removing carbon emissions from a system, product, or process. We have seen it used across industries and applications, from power grids and energy, to product manufacturing, supply chains, construction, and agriculture.

Perhaps it is this flexibility that makes the term so appealing to so many applications. Or maybe it is the simplicity of the concept that succinctly captures and conveys intent. Either way, we are starting to see it used more and more.

How Much More?

For a second, we wondered if this was one of those Baader-Meinhoff Phenomenon situations, where you learn a new word and then you begin to see it everywhere. But the data suggests otherwise.

In looking back through our social listening data, the term 'decarbonizing' was used roughly 500 times by the forest sector (about 46x / month, or 1.5x / a day) in 2020. In 2021 (just one year later!), use spiked 120% with the term being used more than 1,200 times (a little more than 100x / month, or 3.5x / day).

Perhaps most interesting is over that period we saw the sentiment attached to the term increase from 70% to 90%+ positive, meaning more and more people are responding favorably to the concept.

Why Do We Care?

This is something we fight every day. As we work to build awareness and support for forest climate solutions, we continue to run into challenges. At best, this includes an innocent lack of awareness or understanding. At worst, it's peeling back misunderstandings around the system dynamics that underpins the sustainability of the sector.

As we continue to engage our target audience (18-34 year olds, beyond the sector, engaged on climate, looking for meaningful climate solutions), we are continually looking for actionable insights on how best to reach them and bring forest solutions to the climate conversation forefront. Understanding the latest trends in how to talk about an issue that consistently ranks as a top priority for them, is a critical piece of that puzzle.

TL;DR Decarbonizing is shaping up to be a powerful on-ramp for what we do.

- The #forestproud team

Reimagining Our Cities

Mass Timber

Forest Champion Spotlight | Susan Jones

Susan Jones designed some of the first Mass Timber buildings in the U.S. - including her own home. Today, Susan and her team continue to pave the way for Mass Timber buildings in North America by showing the world that there is no reason a building can't also be a climate change solution.

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Climate Tech

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products

Climate Change Perceptions in America

Alarmed. Concerned. Cautious. Disengaged. Doubtful. and, Dismissive.

A year ago, we explored the importance of the Yale Climate Change Communications Group and their work to map perceptions of climate change.

The initial report - 'Global Warming's Six Americas,' published in 2008 - assessed public climate change beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions to create six personas:

Alarmed. Concerned. Cautious. Disengaged. Doubtful. and, Dismissive.

This research has since been updated or expanded on at least 15 times, with the latest update to the core body of work coming in 2020 showing how distribution within each of these audiences changed between 2015 and 2020.

Spoiler alert: Over those 5 years, people became increasingly concerned about climate change.

Yale released its latest research on the topic: Climate Change in the American Mind.

For those interested in digging deeper on how perceptions of climate change are evolving and opportunities to better communicate on it, this is a must read. Even a cursory glance of the executive summary shows some surprising statistics:

Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who this it is not happening by 6 to 1 (76% vs 12%)
60% believe global warming is mostly human-caused
70% say they are 'somewhat worried" about global warming.
35% are 'very worried'
69% feel a personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming
2/3 believe that it it not too late to do something about it
61% disagree with the statement "the actions of a single individual won't make a difference"

These are among the highest numbers seen since the survey was first conducted nearly 15 year ago and a clear indicator that awareness - as well as concerns over - climate change are growing at an increasingly rapid rate.

Our Takeaway

This is just the tip of the iceberg (climate pun, maybe?). Climate conversations aren't just here to stay, they're going to become increasingly alarming and more prevalent in our day-to-day lives.

But it's not all doom and gloom. The fact that a majority of Americans believe it is not too late and that the actions of a single individual can still make a difference puts a massive spotlight on the importance of forests and forest products.

And we're excited to share that story this year. We believe forests provide powerful climate solutions, forest management is how we deliver those solutions, and markets and products are how we sustain them. We all have a part to play in keeping forests as forests, now and tomorrow.

- The #forestproud team

Reimagining Our Cities

Biomass + Renewable Energy, Carbon + Climate Change, Careers, Cities, Forest Management, Innovation, Mass Timber, People, Products, Urban Forests

FORESTS: Reimagining Our Cities

For the first time in history, more than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in a city.

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Climate Tech

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products

Battle Royale: Orca 🐳 vs. 🌲Tree

Carbon Storage | Climate Tech vs. Natural Climate Solutions

Ah, the age-old debate: Orca vs. Trees.

No, no, no. Not that kind of Orca. (also, we're incredibly disappointed that there is not a better Orca whale emoji) We're talking about Orca - the first of its kind direct carbon capture plant, designed to draw down atmospheric carbon and store it permanently. It went live and has garnered some pretty impressive headlines as a climate solution.

And rightfully so! The Orca plant is a very cool piece of technology. It uses massive fans to suck in air and combines it with chemicals that can selectively remove C02 while releasing nitrogen and oxygen back into the atmosphere (hmmm that sounds familiar 🌲🌳). The carbon rich chemicals are super heated and converted to a pure gas, which is then mixed with water and injected into basaltic rock where over time, the dissolved C02 crystalizes - permanently storing atmospheric carbon deep within the Earth's crust.

While the concept is straightforward enough, there are just a few things keeping it from being a scalable solution and thus a key player in helping the world reach its Net Zero goals today.

Carbon Storage at a High Cost.

Aside from costing somewhere between $10 and $15 million to build, the Orca facility relies on a pretty unique combination of factors as explained expertly by Bloomberg, to make it work.

First and perhaps most importantly, this is an incredibly energy intensive process. The Orca facility is powered entirely by carbon-free geothermal energy which is awesome, but severely limits the opportunities for building other locations. Secondly, for this process to work there must be access to deep basaltic rock which are formed by rapidly cooling magma deposits (🌋), which further limits where this specific type of facility can be placed.

Lastly, there is capacity. While Orca is now officially the largest direct-air capture facility in the world absorbing 4,000 tons of CO2 a year, it just simply isn't large enough. To put 4,000 tons of CO2 into perspective, that is equivalent to the total annual emissions from roughly 250 U.S. citizens.

A Small Dent for a Very Large Carbon Problem.

So how does this compare to trees and forests? Well, there are more than 600 tree species in the U.S. alone, each uniquely suited to their specific growing locations, and supremely adapted to sequester and store carbon, just by doing their thing.

(Check out the full writeup that inspired this graphic from Ohio State University)

On average, a single mature tree can absorb more than 48 pounds of CO2 per year.

Considering a tree can grow for 30, 40, 50+ years - and extrapolated over billions and billions of trees around the world - you begin to see how trees and forests remain the undisputed carbon sequestration champions of the world.

Visualizing the Impact.

To give you an idea of just what that looks like, check out this incredible interactive data visualization tool - ForestCarbonDataViz.org - developed by our friends over at the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO). It uses publicly available data from the U.S. Forest Service and the Environmental Protection Agency to show how the continuous cycle of growing, managing, harvesting, and replanting trees and forests holds enormous carbon benefits.

Getting to Net Zero by 2050 is an ambitious - and we believe necessary - goal. We are incredibly excited by the potential of the Orca project as we know that in order to achieve real success in our fight against climate change, it is going to require bold, innovative, and collaborative ideas - and all of us, collectively, working to rethink our carbon future.

So in actually it's less Orca vs. Trees and more Orca AND Trees! After all, it's true that no blue, no green amirite?

Further Reading

The State of America's Forests (U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities)
ForestCarbonDataViz.org (National Alliance of Forest Owners)
U.S. Forest Atlas (U.S. Forest Service)

- The #forestproud team

Reimagining Our Cities

Biomass + Renewable Energy, Carbon + Climate Change, Careers, Cities, Forest Management, Innovation, Mass Timber, People, Products, Urban Forests

FORESTS: Reimagining Our Cities

For the first time in history, more than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in a city.

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Climate Tech

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products

Carbon Credits | silver bullet or a helpful tool?

A California Case Study

As savvy forest folks, we've followed the rise of Net-Zero climate commitments for a while now, and explored the critical role forests and forest products play in helping people, countries, organizations, and multinational brands alike meet their goals.

In addition to being able to trace potential solutions back to forests and forest products, the current wave of Net-Zero commitments has another thing in common: a lack of specificity on how they are going to get there. Just as there is no 'silver bullet' solution to climate change, there is no single answer to Net-Zero, and by extension, no prescriptive path on how to invest in forests to help us reach those goals.

So to better understand how forest investments fit into these plans, we looked at the University of California. Back in 2013 - way before Net-Zero was cool - they were among the first to make a commitment to be carbon neutral by 2025.

Looking at their latest sustainability report (2019), the University has made substantial investments into solar energy, electric vehicles, carbon neutral buildings, and innovative tools that turn food waste into energy. The result?

A 15% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2013.

Now, considering the size of the school and the fact that in the last seven years they've added 46,000 students, this is a significant accomplishment. But it is a long way from zero.

According to a report conducted by the University in 2017, the biggest barrier to reaching their goal is the natural-gas-powered plants responsible for heating and cooling its campuses, which together account for 65% of the school's total emissions. Initial estimates to overhaul the plants and convert them to electric were north of $3 billion -- and even if the University had the money, it would not change the fact the California's electric grid still relies heavily on fossil fuels.

Enter carbon credits and offsets.

Carbon Credits & Offsets

In an interview with the Washington Post, Barbara Haya, a climate policy researcher at the University of California, explained why after the 2017 report they started looking at carbon offsets: "The whole concept of offsets is to create a dynamic where organizations and individuals can pay someone else to reduce emissions in order to cover emissions they can't reduce themselves."

The concept is simple, however, the market and dynamics around offsets can be tricky, particularly when it comes to forests - which Haya said accounts for more than half of the offset projects out there.

While the number of mandatory offset markets are growing - government-backed programs that place strict limits on greenhouse gas emissions and allow members to buy credits or offsets from independently verified projects, e.g. forest conservation - the majority of projects still come from voluntary offset programs.

Voluntary carbon offset markets work much the same way, but without the regulatory oversight. In that sense, the market can be kind of like the wild west and there are more than enough examples to point to of organizations failing to do their due diligence before investing. That being said, the principles - as explained, explored, and eventually implemented by the University of California - are still sound.

Driven largely by growing corporate demand to offset emissions (read: increasing number of Net-Zero goals), the vast majority of the credits retired in 2021 - some 20 million credits - were focused on forest protection.

Types of Forest Carbon Credits

I know what you're thinking. Are there other types of forest carbon credits out there besides just protecting forests? YES! According to North Carolina State University, there are three generally accepted project types that produce carbon offsets:

1. Afforestation / Reforestation
2. Avoided Conversion
3. Improved Forest Management (IFM)

The first is pretty self-explanatory and typically includes projects focused on restoring tree-cover to previously non-forested lands. Avoided conversion projects focus on preventing the conversion of forested land to non-forested land, i.e. keeping forests as forests, not as parking lots. The last - Improved Forest Management - is actually the most common credit type in the California carbon credit market. These projects involve land management activities that increase, or at a minimum maintain, the current level of carbon stocking in a forest.

Each one of these has a role to play, and depending on the circumstances, can be a powerful tool when it comes to mitigating emissions and improving our climate.

A Win-Win-Win

When it comes to carbon credits and offsets, it is important to think of them less as a "get out of jail free card" and more as another tool in the toolbox. We know that healthy markets and strong demand for forest products are critical to incentivizing landowners to keep forests as forests.

We also know that as more and more companies and organizations look to reach their Net-Zero goals, they are going to run into "$3 billion natural-gas-powered plant" problems, where carbon credits and offsets are the best viable option.

In that sense, carbon credits and offset markets can be a win-win-win for companies, landowners, and the climate. Companies can offset their most challenging emissions, landowners can be further incentivized to keep forests as forests, and we can collectively begin to move the needle in the right direction for the climate.

Now, obviously, carbon credit projects and offset markets are far more complex than how they've been explained here - the devil is always in the details. But what the University of California Net-Zero efforts show us is that forests are a flexible solution to carbon and climate challenges. They provide solutions for everything from renewable energy (bioenergy) and green building (mass timber), to sustainable packaging (forest products) and carbon offsets (forest management).

TL;DR Forests are shaping up as heavy favorites to be the all-stars of Net-Zero commitments.

- The #forestproud team

Climate Tech

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products

Welcome to the Age of Decarbonization

Like all trends, climate terms come in and out of fashion. One term whose star seems to be rising is: Decarbonizing / Decarbonization

Netflix + Net-Zero

Climate solution or no? It's complicated

In March 2021, Netflix became the latest - and perhaps one of the most visible - global brands to announce their Net Zero carbon and climate goals.

The plan - dubbed 'Net Zero + Nature' - outlines how the streaming behemoth plans to eliminate its 1.3 million metric ton carbon footprint by 2022. It includes both physical production of Netflix films and series (about 50% of the overall footprint) as well as corporate operations (e.g. office space), purchased goods (marketing), and the delivery of goods via internet cloud providers.

Credit: Wired Magazine / Getty Images

The plan, much like others before it, focuses on three items:

1. Reducing emissions.
2. Investing in projects that prevent carbon from entering the atmosphere.
3. Investing in projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere.

So, what's that special about the Netflix announcement?

Well, Netflix did release data that suggests one hour of streaming on the platform is the carbon equivalent of driving a standard car a quarter of a mile, which is a pretty cool stat.

"One hour of streaming on Netflix is the carbon equivalent
of driving a standard car a quarter of a mile."

But, aside from that less than stellar news for us binge watchers, as a one-off climate announcement, there is very little that is special about the plan. What is interesting is looking at the trends that start to emerge as we consider this announcement in the larger context of Net Zero commitments made over the last 18 months, and how all of these organizations are planning to reduce, mitigate, and offset their carbon footprints.

Not a Flash in the Pan

In January, we highlighted an article from the United Nations that reported a 300% increase in Net Zero commitments in 2020. A report released by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in February (2021), shows that just 8% of the worlds largest companies - as represented by the Global Fortune 500 Index - have pledged to become Net Zero.

If you're a glass half-empty kind of person, you might look at this and say these commitments are just a trend. If you're a glass half-full kind of person, you'd look at the list of heavy hitters making these commitments (Amazon, Facebook, Mercedes, Nestle, General Mills, Microsoft, Exxon, Netflix, etc.) and say "Only 8%? Yeah, we're going to see a lot more of these commitments coming down the pike."

At #forestproud, we're glass half-full kind of people. So, if you ask us, this is surely just the beginning.

It's About Forests 🌲🌲

Whether mentioned directly or indirectly, forests and natural climate solutions are a thread that is consistently pulled through each of these Net Zero commitments. When companies talk about "investing in projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere" or "projects that prevent carbon from entering our atmosphere", what they're talking about (explicitly or not) is forest and forest products. Carbon offsets, tree planting, material substitutions, packaging alternatives - these natural, renewable, and sustainable solutions start with healthy forests.

Tree planting and reforestation campaigns have come to solidify themselves as the tip of the spear for Net Zero campaigns. No doubt driven in part by its simplicity and positive public perception by those least familiar with the nuances of the forest sector, there is a tremendous opportunity to build on this momentum and use it to dive deeper into the intricacies of forest management and other topics that really explain not only who the sector is and what we do, but why we're critical in the fight against climate change.

It is why one of our goals this year is to increase the overall share of voice of the forests in carbon and climate change conversations. The goal is to support and further drive conversations around forest solutions by being a credible, authentic, and dynamic voice that connects the dots between forests - and all the products and benefits they provide - and the role they play as the most powerful solution we have fighting climate change.

- The #forestproud team

Reimagining Our Cities

Biomass + Renewable Energy, Carbon + Climate Change, Careers, Cities, Forest Management, Innovation, Mass Timber, People, Products, Urban Forests

FORESTS: Reimagining Our Cities

For the first time in history, more than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in a city.

Watch this next

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Products

5 Earth Day Pledges We Love

Hello Fresh

Hello Fresh plans to offset 100 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂) generated from its operations, outbound shipping and corporate travel through a partnership with Terrapass.

Why We Love It: Terrapass supports a number of projects including carbon offsets through community forest projects.

Hello Fresh 2020 Earth Day Pledge

Numi Organic Tea

Using a combination of emissions reductions and carbon offsets, Numi Organic Tea has committed to going carbon neutral by 2023.

Why We Love It: Forest carbon offsets do more than offset carbon, they help support biodiversity, habitat conservation, and recreation.

Numi Organic Tea 2020 Earth Day Pledge

Allbirds

Allbirds is launching a carbon footprint initiative which measures the carbon output for each of its products. They will also be labelling every product they make with a Life Cycle Assessment tool which measures each product's environmental impact by looking at materials, development, manufacturing, and end of life.

Why We Love It: Allbirds makes shoes from tree fibers sourced from certified forests. They also use packaging made from 90% recycled cardboard. It’s officially the unofficial shoe of #forestproud.

Allbirds 2020 Earth Day Pledge

Levi's Jeans

Levi’s is partnering with an organization to turn donated jeans into insulation for low-income housing, which keeps jeans out of the landfill while keeping our communities healthier. Oh, when you donate your jeans (from any manufacturer), you also get 20% off a new pair.

Why We Love It: We wear a lot of jeans. Wood offers a tremendous opportunity to help meet affordable housing needs and those houses need insulation!

Levi's Jeans 2020 Earth Day Pledge

Horizon Organic

Horizon is committing to be carbon positive by 2025. By looking at their entire supply chain, they’re making positive changes to its manufacturing facilities, farms, transportation, and packaging to remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as possible.

Why We Love It: Reaching carbon neutral is awesome. Going beyond it is even awesome-er. We love that they use paper packaging from certified forests and that it’s recyclable.

Horizon Organic 2020 Earth Day Pledge

Reimagining Our Cities

Mass Timber

KATERRA

In 2019, Katerra opened one of the largest mass timber manufacturing facilities in North America. See how Katerra - using a technology first approach - is not only building the future with mass timber, but is showcasing how forests can help us reimagine our cities for the better.

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Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Biomass + Renewable Energy, Forest Management, Innovation, Products

Biomass Through Generations

In 2016, Menominee Tribal Enterprises, the business arm of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, completed a biomass-fueled district combined heat and power (CHP) project in an attempt to create energy independence, and reduce carbon footprint and air emissions.

For more than 150 years, the Menominee people have utilized sustainable forestry practices to preserve a unique ecosystem with a wide variety of species and varied habitats. The result is an award winning sustainable forest located on the Menominee Nation Reservation in central Wisconsin. It’s a forest that is not only economically profitable, but also ecologically healthy. In 2016, an advanced wood energy system was completed at the Menominee Tribal Enterprises sawmill to continue with our practices of preserving resources. The project, driven by the Menominee people’s emphasis on sustainability and environmental protection, evolved from our cultural relationship with the land and greater self-sufficiency as a Nation.

In 2016, we completed a biomass-fueled district combined heat and power (CHP) project in an attempt to create energy independence, reduce our carbon footprint and reduce air emissions thus improving local air quality through the use of renewable resources on the Reservation. Biomass is simply wood chips, collected from waste residues from our sawmill, from low value logs, or from harvesting residues. By moving to a biomass boiler system, we are also protecting the health and well-being of communities and our Tribal School near the mill. It is MTEs responsibility and practice to protect the community health as well as the environment while committing to providing sustainable jobs and a solid economic base for the Menominee Indian Tribe.

This project occurred pretty quickly. In partnership with the USDA Forest Service and their wood energy team, assessments showed that we could replace old, inefficient technology with a new biomass-fueled district combined heat and power (CHP) system to generate steam and electricity using renewable biomass fuel for our forest products operations. The steam heat generated will be used to dry lumber in our kilns and to heat our operations and office space, and electricity generated will provide more than 20 percent of MTE’s energy needs. It strengthens our long-term competiveness and commitment to the Menominee and our customers. Our mission statement reflects this: “Menominee Tribal Enterprises is committed to excellence in the sustainable management of our forest, and the manufacturing of our lumber and forest products providing a consistently superior product while serving the needs of our forest, employees, wood products customers, tribal community, and future generations.”

Our investment in a new wood energy system is providing use of existing, renewable Menominee resources and providing economic and environmental benefits for the long-term sustainability of our forests and people. This provides for our Nation for the next generations and embodies the culture, values, and spirit of the Menominee people.

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Biomass + Renewable Energy, Carbon + Climate Change, Careers, Forest Management, Innovation, People, Products

FORESTS ARE THE FUTURE | Shabnam Sanaei, Domtar

Shabnam is a bio-chemical engineer from Iran who traded oil and gas for renewable wood.

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Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Biomass + Renewable Energy, Carbon + Climate Change, Careers, Forest Management, Innovation, People, Products

FORESTS ARE THE FUTURE | Shabnam Sanaei, Domtar

Shabnam is a bio-chemical engineer from Iran who traded oil and gas for renewable wood. Driven by her desire to improve the world around her and contribute to a more sustainable future, her work creating new materials and products from biomaterials is literally redefining what’s possible with wood.

Meet Shabnam Sanaei and see why her work as a Biomaterials Specialist at Domtar makes her #forestproud.

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Innovation

How Can We Serve What We Don’t Understand

What are our forests really made of? From the air, ecologist Greg Asner uses a spectrometer and high-powered lasers to map nature in meticulous kaleidoscopic 3D detail — what he calls “a very high-tech accounting system” of carbon in this Ted Talks video

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Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Careers, Cities, Forest Management, Forest Products, Innovation, Mass Timber, People

The Importance of Forests in Mitigating Climate Change

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is working with partners such as American Forests on important global issues such as climate change.

Forests and forest products capture almost 15% of our carbon emissions each year. Learn more about the importance of forests in mitigating climate change.

Fast Facts

Carbon + Climate Change, Cities, Fast Facts, Forest Benefits, Forest Management, Urban Forests

Fast Facts | Carbon

When trees are turned into products, that carbon stays in those products and out of our atmosphere. By using forest products we are keeping forests as forests and helping fight climate change.

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Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Innovation

How Can We Serve What We Don’t Understand

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Biomass + Renewable Energy, Forest Management, Innovation, Products