Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Wood Pellets Made in Hokkaido

In order to quantitatively analyze the environmental impact of wood pellets produced in Hokkaido. we carried out a life cycle impact assessment using LIME2 The external cost of the pellets was estimated at 1461 yen/t, and the impact of CO2 emissions on global warming accounted for 45% of the cost The production process of the pellets has the highest CO2 emissions in the life cycle, and thus improvement of productivity in the process is important for reduction of the impact In a comparison of life cycle impact among 5 heating systems, the external cost of the pellet stove heating system was smallest, since the combustion of wood is regarded as carbon-neutral CO2 emissions could be reduced to the range of 753 to 5642 kg/household/year if the pellet stove heating system was introduced to general households in Hokkaido For example. introducing that system as an alternative for the kerosene stove heating system would reduce CO2 emissions by 43% per household a year