Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO₂ emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy'

Abstract

We respond to Prisley et al's (2018 Environ. Res. Lett. 13 128002) critique of Sterman et al (2018 Environ. Res. Lett. 13 015007), which found that using wood to produce electricity can worsen climate change at least through 2100, even if wood displaces coal. The result arises because (1) wood generates more CO₂/kWh than coal, creating an initial carbon debt; (2) regrowth of harvested land can remove CO₂ from the atmosphere, but takes time and is not certain; and (3) until the carbon debt is repaid, atmospheric CO₂ is higher, increasing radiative forcing and worsening climate change long after the initial carbon debt is repaid by new growth. We correct several errors in Prisley et al's critique, and show that our results are robust to the harvest and land management practices they prefer.