When people talk about taking action on climate change, the conversation often jumps right to electric cars, bike lanes, or big lifestyle changes. Some of those ideas spark debate, while others feel challenging or inconvenient. But there’s a climate solution that almost everyone agrees on, and it’s already a part of our daily lives, whether you live in a more rural area of the province or in a city.
Wood.
Using wood, as a building material, delivery boxes, tissues, as a clean source of energy, or thousands of other things is one of the simplest, most effective climate solutions we have. But surprisingly, it doesn’t get much attention.
Two Ways we can Take on Climate Change
When it comes to climate action, we really have two choices:
- Adapt to a warmer world: This means coping with heat and extreme weather. Create cooling centres, more air conditioners, and upgrading homes with better insulation and windows. These steps would be important, necessary and costly. Or . . .
- Reduce the problem at its source:This means cutting greenhouse gas emissions and pulling carbon dioxide out of the air. Trees do this naturally as they grow, and when we use wood instead of other materials that have big environmental footprints, we can reduce emissions even further. The wood product was created by using carbon dioxide and will store carbon for as long as the wood product is used. It’s a win-win. This is where wood quietly shines.
Why Wood Can Make Such a Big Difference
Many buildings today are made of concrete and steel. But we will eventually run out of mineral deposits on this earth for both of these materials, and they require enormous amounts of energy to produce. Wood, on the other hand, is powered by the sun, is renewable and naturally stores carbon.
When trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air. When that wood is turned into long-lasting products like lumber or mass timber, the carbon stays locked away for decades. Switching to using wood in commercial buildings can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 60 per cent, which is like taking 4.4 million cars off the road.[1] Emissions are further reduced when clean bioenergy from wood displaces energy that otherwise would have been made from fossil fuels.
This is not some futuristic technology but using more of something we already know how to build, cook and heat with.
Cities Are Already Leading the Way
Around the world, cities are using wood to cut emissions and reduce fossil fuel use.
In Stockholm, Sweden, woody fibre like branches, tops of trees and bark leftover from harvesting operations are used to power one of the largest combined heat and power plants in the world. This system heats much of the city and helps Sweden rely less on fossil fuels.
Closer to home, Simon Fraser University in British Columbia uses a biomass energy plant to heat most of its campus and even parts of the surrounding community. Clean wood residuals is turned into heat and hot water, significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions compared to what would result from using oil or natural gas.
Wood Powers British Columbia Too
Wood isn’t just used in buildings. Wood helps power our province.
In 2023, biomass was British Columbia’s second-largest source of electricity, generating 7 per cent of the province’s power.[2] Most of that energy came from wood waste produced by forestry and pulp and paper operations and is material that would otherwise go unused.
Think of it like clean energy made from leftovers. Effective and smart!
Healthy Forests, Healthy Climate
Forests are a vital part of the Earth’s natural carbon cycle. As trees grow, they absorb carbon. When forests are well managed by removing burned, diseased, or dying trees, new growth can thrive and continue that cycle.
When harvested trees are turned into long-lasting wood products, the carbon they captured stays stored for generations. Replanting and natural regeneration ensure the process continues over and over and over![3] 3 trees are planted for every one that is harvested! Healthy forests don’t just support wildlife and communities; they enable local people to actively take meaningful action on climate change.
The Simple Solution We Should All Be Talking About
Wood is renewable.
Wood uses carbon dioxide to grow.
Wood stores carbon.
Wood replaces high-pollution materials.
Wood creates clean energy from waste.
It’s practical. It’s proven. And it’s already working.
Wood might just be the environmental solution hiding in plain sight, and at Forestry Works for BC we believe it’s time we talked about it more. Join the conversation and find more fun facts about our forests at www.fwfbc.ca
[1] Think Wood: Net Zero Buildings – Does Wood Store Carbon? – Think Wood
[2] BC Government: backgrounder_-_bcs_energy_system.pdf
[3] Naturally Wood: Carbon and climate | naturally:wood