Sea cargo footprint winner

Trucking timber from Nelson to Christchurch has the same carbon footprint as shipping it all the way to Australia, says a study of greenhouse gas emissions by a Nelson forestry company.

The study, published by Nelson Forests Ltd, showed that ocean freight was five to 10 times more efficient than road transport in terms of carbon emissions, according to its author, Dan McCallum.

Coupled with the low carbon footprint of log products produced in New Zealand's plantation forests, this meant logs sent overseas were "just as competitive, if not more competitive on a carbon basis as those of our leading competitors", he said.

A truck carting logs 900km - roughly Nelson to Southland - would produce the same emissions as freighting the logs by sea to Asia.

Programme manager of NZ Wood Geoff Henley said the study confirmed that sustainably grown plantation wood products from New Zealand could not only compete well on price internationally, but also in environmental terms.

Mr McCallum's snapshot of Nelson Forest's operations in 2007 calculated the carbon footprint of its logs supplied to the domestic market at 18.7kg of CO2 per cubic metre and at 65.1 kg of CO2 per cubic metre for its export operations.

- NZPA