Return to Fairy Creek forest defenders have cut through the endless inaction on carbon emissions

Here we show the arithmetic behind the statement: “If Teal had performed as well in the first 8 months of 2021 as did other coastal logging companies, the carbon emissions associated with its logging would have been approximately 692,000 tonnes higher than they were.”

Where did we get “692,000 tonnes” from?

According to the ministry of forests Harvest Billing System, Teal Cedar's logging in TFL 46 and TSA 30 in the first 8 months of 2020 and 2021 was as follows:

TFL 46

2020: 297,770 cubic metres

2021: 126,818 cubic metres

Cut is down 57 percent

TSA 30

2020: 220,011 cubic metres

2021: 176,116 cubic metres

Cut is down 20 percent

From these figures, we see that Teal's total cut in the first 8 months of 2020 was 517,781 cubic metres.

The Harvest Billing System shows that across the coast, the volume cut in the first 8 months of 2021 was up 40 percent over the same period in 2020.

If Teal had performed at that level, its cut would have increased to 724,893 cubic metres.

Instead, it declined to 302,934 cubic metres.

The difference between Teal's actual cut and what we might have expected its cut to be is about 422,000 cubic metres.

To convert that volume of wood (including all the biomass that was killed by the logging and left behind in the clearcuts) to CO2-equivalent emissions, we multiply by 1.64.

1.64 x 422,000 = 692,000 tonnes.

Where does the 1.64 come from? See our methodology for converting logging volumes to associated carbon emissions.

Return to Fairy Creek forest defenders have cut through the endless inaction on carbon emissions