2nd World Conference on Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (WCTIE-2017), V.5-p.10-18 Erdil, et al. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ DOI: 10.17261/Pressacademia.2017.564 10 PressAcademia Procedia 2nd World Conference on Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship May 12- 14, 2017, Istanbul, Turkey. Edited by Sefer Şener EVALUATION OF CARBON FOOTPRINT FOR WOOD BASED PANEL INDUSTRY IN TURKEY DOI: 10.17261/Pressacademia.2017.564 PAP-WCTIE-V.5-2017(2)-p.10-18 Mehtap Erdil 1 , Nural Yilgor 2 , Yigit Gungor 3 1 Istanbul University, erdilmehtap@gmail.com 2 Istanbul University, yilgorn@istanbul.edu.tr 3 Gebze Technical University, yigitgungor@hotmail.com ABSTRACT In wood-based panel industry, the importance of carbon footprint has increased due to global warming and climate change all around the world. So this topic has been studied extensively in the world, especially in developed countries. Eventhough wood based panel industry is one of the most important industry in Turkey there is not any comprehensive study in this field so this study was planned to meet the requirement in industry which release a lot of emissions to the environment. In recent years the use of wood-based panels such as fiber board, particleboard, oriented strand board, plywood etc., have been increased due to the fast growth in bulding trade in Turkey. The world’s largest board producers are China, USA, Germany and Turkey respectively. This charges the industry a great responsibi lity for the environment because sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present without making a concession the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. From this perspective, it is essential to know the current status of the sector concerning CO2 footprint, energy footprint and water footprint. This study is aimed to investigate one of the largest board producer industry of Turkey whether clean production (less emission) is carried out or not. Besides, it is aimed to present some improvements to decrease the emission. Carbon footprint values are calculated as statistically with Tier method during the particle board production, and Pareto anaysis method is used for determine the footprint’ problem. Consequently, a liveable environment will be provided and environmental oriented production will be supported to contribute to these properties in the industry for this issue in the scope of this research. Also, this study shall provide a general view and perception for the importance of the carbon footprint in the industrial sector. Keywords: Carbon footprint, tier method, pareto analysis, wood based panel industry, particle board production. 1. INTRODUCTION Carbon footprint originated from the terminology of ecological footprint which was proposed by Wackernagel and Rees, 1996 (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996). It is the calculation of the total value of direct or indirect CO 2 emissions of the activities occur during the life cycle. According to another definition, it is a technique to identify and measure of the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) release from each operation or activity full life cycle (Carbon Trust, 2007; IPCC, 2006; IPCC, 2007). Grubb and Ellis, 2007, defined carbon footprint as the total amount of carbon dioxide release through the combustion of fossil fuels. The major greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere are CO 2, CH 4, N 2 O and some different fluorine containing halogenated compounds (Muthu, 2014). However, the most significant greenhouse gas is CO 2 and it was produced from burning of fossil fuels to generate energy which is essential for the manufacture and transport of the goods. It is expressed as grams or kilograms of CO 2 equivalent per kilowatt hour of generation (g/kgCO 2eq /kWh) which being in charge of the different global warming effects of other greenhouse gases (Paliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), 2006). Hammond, 2007 suggested that ...” The property that is often referred to as a carbon footprint is actually a carbon weight of kilograms or tonnes per person or activity.” Higher GHG concentrations in the earth`s atmosphere cause global warming and it causes climate change in the world. This reality forces the nations to get some precautions. The most important agreement of concerning global warming and climate change is known as Kyoto Protocol and six greenhouse gases are defined as CO, CO 2, CH 4, N 2 O, perfluorocarbons, and hydrofluorocarbons which cause strongly global warming and it was thought those gases are released by human activities. (IPCC, 2007; ECCM, 2008; UN,1998). A carbon footprint measurement is a complicated and boring method. GHG produced by human activities either directly or indirectly. Direct GHG emissions are suggested as burning fossil fuels for generating electricity to heat and transport. But indirect emissions are less clear that