Carbon Footprint Study of Bamboo Scrimber Products Based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Understanding the carbon footprint of biomass products is of considerable practical relevance for energy conservation and emission reduction. Conducting carbon footprint assessment of bamboo scrimber products via Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) facilitates the quantitative characterization of their environmental performance and further enhances the improvement in cleaner production. This study established a model of life cycle and inventory data set for bamboo scrimber flooring from ‘cradle to gate’ that accurately quantifies carbon emissions during raw material transportation and product production stages. Two types of bamboo scrimber flooring processes were investigated: deep carbonization and shallow carbonization. Additionally, this study compared the carbon footprints of products processed using bamboo scrimber flooring and bamboo plywood production methods. Results showed that the carbon emissions during the processing of 1 m3 of deep carbon and shallow carbon bamboo scrimber flooring were 1845.99 kg CO2-eq and 1570.85 kg CO2-eq, respectively. When coupling the carbon storage of raw material supply and product usage stages, the life cycle carbon footprints for 1 m3 of deep carbon and shallow carbon bamboo scrimber flooring were 962.23 kg CO2-eq and 677.86 kg CO2-eq, respectively. The carbon emissions and life cycle carbon footprint for the processing of bamboo plywoods were 1435.55 kg CO2-eq and 640.23 kg CO2-eq, respectively. Through the analysis of different processes and their effects, adhesives were identified as the primary factor influencing the carbon footprint.