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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3, MARCH 1993

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
CARBON CYCLE MANAGEMENT

Item #d93mar73

"Temperate Forest as a Carbon Storage Reservoir for Carbon Dioxide Emitted by Coal-Fired Generating Stations: A Case Study for New Brunswick, Canada," B. Freedman (Dept. Biol., Dalhousie Univ., Halifax B3H 4J1, Can.), F. Meth, C. Hickman, For. Ecol. Mgmt., 55(1-4), 15-29, Dec. 1992.

Offsetting CO₂ emissions from a 200 MW generating station with unmanaged forest would require an area equivalent to 8% of the forested area of the province. A much smaller area would be required if farmland were reforested. Evaluates the influence of management approaches on carbon fixation. The area of land that would have to be reserved to offset such a power station would require unrealistically large changes in land use in New Brunswick.

Item #d93mar74

"The Potential for Short-Rotation Woody Crops to Reduce U.S. CO₂ Emissions," R.L. Graham (Environ. Sci. Div., Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., POB 2008, Oak Ridge TN 37831), L.L. Wright, A.F. Turhollow, Clim. Change, 22(3), 223-238, Nov. 1992.

With current climate, present production and conversion technologies, and a conservative estimate of the available land base, short-rotation woody crops (SRWC) could displace 3-6% of the current U.S. emissions. Less conservative assumptions yield 20% of emissions. The carbon mitigation potential per unit of land is larger with the substitution of SRWC for coal-based electricity production than with the substitution of SRWC derived ethanol for gasoline.

Item #d93mar75

"Carbon Dioxide Fixation by a Unicellular Green Alga Oocystis Sp.," T. Takeuchi (Adv. Sci. Res. Ctr., Univ. Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro Ku, Tokyo 153, Japan), K. Utsunomiya et al., J. Biotechnol., 25(3), 261-267, Sep. 1992. Experiments with a highly CO₂-tolerant alga suggest it may be suitable for fixing atmospheric carbon to offset anthropogenic emissions.

Item #d93mar76

"Carbon Storage in Lake States Aspen Ecosystems," D.H. Alban (N. Central For. Exper. Sta., USDA For. Serv., 1831 Hwy. 169 E, Grand Rapids MN 55744), D.A. Perala, Can. J. For. Res., 22(8), 1107-1110, Aug. 1992.

Measurements of soil and vegetation carbon indicate that aspen grown on 40-year rotations on good soils will sequester several times as much carbon per year as old-growth forest.

Item #d93mar77

"Mitigating Climate Change by Sequestering Carbon in Soils--A Hypertext-Based Scientific Assessment," H.M. Rauscher (addr. immed. above), D.H. Alban, D.W. Johnson, AI Applic., 6(2), 62-63, 1992.

Item #d93mar78

"Agriculture and the Greenhouse Effect: Consumption of Carbon Dioxide at Different Intensities of Land Management," M. Smukalski (Bundesforsch. Anstalt Landwirtschaft, Braunschweig Volkenrode, Inst. Agrarrelevante Klimaforsch., Muncheberg, Ger.), J. Rogasik, K.J. Kunkel, Landbauforschung Volkenrode, 42(2), 55-61, 1992. In German.

Examines the impact on carbon uptake of various agricultural approaches in Germany (fallow land, extensive farming, cultivation of renewable resources).

Item #d93mar79

"Cost and Performance of CO₂ Storage in Forestry Projects," J.N. Swisher (Environ. & Energy Sys. Studies, Univ. Lund, Gerdagatan 13, S-22362 Lund, Swed.), Biomass & Bioenergy, 1(6), 317-328, 1991.

Presents a comprehensive and consistent accounting method for the costs and carbon flows of different categories of forestry projects, and applies it to a set of projects proposed in Central America under the Tropical Forest Action Plan. The costs of carbon savings mostly fall between $5 and $13 per ton, but the projects also promise socioeconomic benefits at the local level, provided there is adequate funding, training and institutional support. The total CO₂ storage potential is significant, but not enough to offset more than a few percent of global fossil CO₂ emissions.