Estimating diesel fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from forest road construction

Dan Loeffler; Greg G. Jones; Nikolaus Vonessen; Sean P. Healey; Woodam Chung

Treesearch

Estimating diesel fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from forest road construction

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Dan Loeffler, Greg G. Jones, Nikolaus Vonessen, Sean P. Healey, Woodam Chung

Year:

2009

Type:

Proceedings

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

In: McWilliams, Will; Moisen, Gretchen; Czaplewski, Ray, comps. Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Symposium 2008; October 21-23, 2008; Park City, UT. Proc. RMRS-P-56CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 11 p.

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Abstract

Forest access road construction is a necessary component of many on-the-ground forest vegetation treatment projects. However, the fuel energy requirements and associated carbon dioxide emissions from forest road construction are unknown. We present a method for estimating diesel fuel consumed and related carbon dioxide emissions from constructing forest roads using published results from a study designed to measure road construction costs together with machine productivity and fuel consumption rates. Our resulting estimate of diesel fuel required per mile of road constructed on slopes up to 50% using a cut-fill construction method is 590 gallons, with 13,400 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted per mile of road built. Using a full bench road construction method on slopes greater than 50% where volume of material handled and moved is very sensitive to hill slope and soil type, we estimated between 3,265 and 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel are required per mile of road emitting between 74,400 to 182,700 pounds of carbon dioxide.

Parent Publication

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Symposium 2008; October 21-23, 2008; Park City, UT

Keywords

forest roads, carbon, carbon accounting, forest management, road construction, forest products, diesel emissions

Citation

Loeffler, Dan; Jones, Greg; Vonessen, Nikolaus; Healey, Sean; Chung, Woodam. 2009. Estimating diesel fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from forest road construction. In: McWilliams, Will; Moisen, Gretchen; Czaplewski, Ray, comps. Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Symposium 2008; October 21-23, 2008; Park City, UT. Proc. RMRS-P-56CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 11 p.