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Ali D, Piffoux M. Methodological guide for assessing the carbon footprint of external beam radiotherapy: A single-center study with quantified mitigation strategies. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 2024; 46:100768. [PMID: 38633470 PMCID: PMC11021844 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctro.2024.100768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Background and purposes Data on the carbon footprint of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) are scarce. Reliable and exhaustive data, including a detailed carbon inventory, are needed to determine effective mitigation strategies. Materials and methods This study proposes a methodology for calculating the carbon footprint of EBRT and applies it to a single center. Mitigation strategies are derived from the carbon inventory, and their potential reductions are quantified whenever possible. Results The average emission per treatment and fraction delivered was 489 kg CO₂eq and 27 kg CO₂eq, respectively. Patient transportation (43 %) and the construction and maintenance of linear accelerators (LINACs) and scanners (17 %) represented the most significant components. Electricity, the only energy source used, accounted for only 2 % of emissions.Derived mitigation strategies include a data deletion policy (reducing emissions in 30 years by 12.5 %), geographical appropriateness (-12.2 %), transportation mode appropriateness (-9.3 %), hypofractionation (-5.9 %), decrease in manufacturers' carbon footprint (-5.2 %), and an increase in machine durability (-3.5 %). Conclusion Our findings indicate that a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of a radiotherapy unit can be achieved without compromising the quality of care.This study provides a methodology and a starting point for comparison and proposes and quantifies mitigation strategies, paving the way for others to follow.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Ali
- Centre de Radiothérapie et de Traitement des Tumeurs, Versailles, France
| | - Max Piffoux
- Département d’Oncologie Médicale, Hospices Civils de Lyon, CITOHL, Lyon, France
- Direction de la Recherche Clinique et de l’Innovation, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
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2
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Van Shaik T, Doraisami M, Martin AR. Carbon fractions in wood for estimating embodied carbon in the built environment. Sci Total Environ 2024; 921:171095. [PMID: 38401732 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Determining wood carbon (C) fractions (CFs)-or the concentration of elemental C in wood on a per unit mass basis-in harvested wood products (HWP) is vital for accurately accounting embodied C in the built environment. Most estimates of embodied C assume that all wood-based building material is comprised of 50 % C on a per mass basis: an erroneous assumption that emerges from the literature on tree- and forest-scale C estimation, which has been shown to lead to substantial errors in C accounting. Here, we use published wood CF data from live trees, alongside laboratory analyses of sawn lumber, to quantify generalizable wood CFs for HWPs. Wood CFs in lumber average 51.7 %, deviating significantly from a 50 % default wood CF, as well as from CFs in live wood globally (which average 47.6 % across all species, and 47.1 % in tree species not typically employed in construction). Additionally, the volatile CF in lumber-i.e., the quantity of C lost upon heating of wood samples, but often overlooked in C accounting-is lower than the volatile CF in live wood, but significantly >0 % suggesting that industrial lumber drying processes remove some, but not all, of volatile C-based compounds. Our results demonstrate that empirically-supported wood CFs for construction material can correct meaningful systematic biases when estimating C storage in the built environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Van Shaik
- Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Scarborough, ON, Canada
| | - Mahendra Doraisami
- Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Scarborough, ON, Canada
| | - Adam R Martin
- Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Scarborough, ON, Canada.
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3
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Raffeld AM, Bradford MA, Jackson RD, Rath D, Sanford GR, Tautges N, Oldfield EE. The importance of accounting method and sampling depth to estimate changes in soil carbon stocks. Carbon Balance Manag 2024; 19:2. [PMID: 38277090 PMCID: PMC10811869 DOI: 10.1186/s13021-024-00249-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND As interest in the voluntary soil carbon market surges, carbon registries have been developing new soil carbon measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) protocols. These protocols are inconsistent in their approaches to measuring soil organic carbon (SOC). Two areas of concern include the type of SOC stock accounting method (fixed-depth (FD) vs. equivalent soil mass (ESM)) and sampling depth requirement. Despite evidence that fixed-depth measurements can result in error because of changes in soil bulk density and that sampling to 30 cm neglects a significant portion of the soil profile's SOC stock, most MRV protocols do not specify which sampling method to use and only require sampling to 30 cm. Using data from UC Davis's Century Experiment ("Century") and UW Madison's Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial (WICST), we quantify differences in SOC stock changes estimated by FD and ESM over 20 years, investigate how sampling at-depth (> 30 cm) affects SOC stock change estimates, and estimate how crediting outcomes taking an empirical sampling-only crediting approach differ when stocks are calculated using ESM or FD at different depths. RESULTS We find that FD and ESM estimates of stock change can differ by over 100 percent and that, as expected, much of this difference is associated with changes in bulk density in surface soils (e.g., r = 0.90 for Century maize treatments). This led to substantial differences in crediting outcomes between ESM and FD-based stocks, although many treatments did not receive credits due to declines in SOC stocks over time. While increased variability of soils at depth makes it challenging to accurately quantify stocks across the profile, sampling to 60 cm can capture changes in bulk density, potential SOC redistribution, and a larger proportion of the overall SOC stock. CONCLUSIONS ESM accounting and sampling to 60 cm (using multiple depth increments) should be considered best practice when quantifying change in SOC stocks in annual, row crop agroecosystems. For carbon markets, the cost of achieving an accurate estimate of SOC stocks that reflect management impacts on soils at-depth should be reflected in the price of carbon credits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M Raffeld
- Environmental Defense Fund, 555 12th Street, Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20004 , USA.
| | - Mark A Bradford
- The Forest School, Yale School of the Environment, Yale University, 360 Prospect St., New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Randall D Jackson
- Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1575 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Daniel Rath
- Natural Resources Defense Council, 1152 15th St NW, Washington, DC, 20005, USA
| | - Gregg R Sanford
- Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1575 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Nicole Tautges
- Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, East Troy, WI, PO Box 990, 53120, USA
| | - Emily E Oldfield
- Environmental Defense Fund, 555 12th Street, Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20004 , USA
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4
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Zhang Q, Wu Q, Xie Y, Dzakpasu M, Zhang J, Wang XC. A novel carbon emission evaluation model for anaerobic-anoxic-oxic urban sewage treatment. J Environ Manage 2024; 350:119640. [PMID: 38029499 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
The proposal of the dual carbon goal and the blue economy in China has sparked a keen interest in carbon emissions reduction from sewage treatment. Carbon accounting in urban sewage plants serves as the foundation for carbon emission reduction in sewage treatment. This paper re-evaluated carbon accounting in the operational processes for urban sewage treatment plants to develop a novel carbon emission evaluation model for anaerobic-anoxic-oxic treatment plants. The results show that the carbon emissions generated by non-carbon dioxide gases far exceed the carbon emissions from carbon dioxide alone. Moreover, the recycling of sewage leads to carbon emissions reduction that offsets the carbon emissions generated during the operation of the sewage plant. Also, the carbon emissions generated by sewage treatment plants are lower than those generated by untreated sewage. The findings and insights provided in this paper provide valuable references for carbon accounting and the implementation of low-carbon practices in urban sewage treatment plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qionghua Zhang
- Key Lab of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China; International Science & Technology Cooperation Center for Urban Alternative Water Resources Development, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China.
| | - Qi Wu
- Key Lab of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China
| | - Yadong Xie
- Key Lab of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China
| | - Mawuli Dzakpasu
- International Science & Technology Cooperation Center for Urban Alternative Water Resources Development, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China; School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China
| | - Jiyu Zhang
- Key Lab of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China
| | - Xiaochang C Wang
- Key Lab of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China; International Science & Technology Cooperation Center for Urban Alternative Water Resources Development, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China
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Doorga JRS, Deenapanray PNK, Rughooputh SDDV. Geographic carbon accounting: The roadmap for achieving net-zero emissions in Mauritius Island. J Environ Manage 2023; 333:117434. [PMID: 36758405 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Significant climate finance gaps exist for small islands in transitioning to net zero, as climate commitments far outweigh the government budget and international financing. To create alignment between resource allocation and climate commitments, a roadmap for strategic and cost-effective decarbonization is of supreme importance. This paper presents a geographic carbon accounting model which incorporates emissions from electricity, transportation, food systems, and human respiration, whilst accounting for the carbon uptake by the terrestrial biosphere in view of identifying high-intensity aggregated emissions estimated in the range of 200-215 ktCO2e in the coastal and inland urban regions of the remote island of Mauritius. An estimated 4641 ktCO2e, representing 79.4% of overall emissions, has been observed to originate from buildings, food, and waste systems. About 1150 ktCO2e, accounting for a share of 19.7%, is derived from transport systems. The study advocates for the enhanced participation of local authorities to better contribute to climate governance, whilst supporting legislative, financial, technological, and behavioural reforms. Despite the relatively low sequestration potential of forests replacing all non-habitable lands, which is estimated at 1002 ktCO2e and representing about 17.1% of annual net emissions, afforestation programmes are encouraged owing to multiple ecosystem services provided by trees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay R S Doorga
- Faculty of Sustainable Development and Engineering, Université des Mascareignes, Rose Hill, Mauritius.
| | - Prakash N K Deenapanray
- Faculty of Sustainable Development and Engineering, Université des Mascareignes, Rose Hill, Mauritius; ELIA - Ecological Living in Action Ltd, 74 Société La Flèche, La Gaulette, Mauritius
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Liu B, Guan Y, Shan Y, Cui C, Hubacek K. Emission growth and drivers in Mainland Southeast Asian countries. J Environ Manage 2023; 329:117034. [PMID: 36549058 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.117034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Revised: 11/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Mainland Southeast Asian (MSEA) countries (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam) are likely to become one of the next hotspots for emission reduction, since CO2 emissions in this area will have a two-thirds increase by 2040 due to rapid economy growth and associated energy consumption. As one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change, MSEA countries need to develop low-carbon roadmaps based on accurate emission data. This study provides emission inventories for MSEA countries for 2010-2019, based on the IPCC territorial emission accounting approach , including emissions from five types of fuels (i.e., coal, crude oil, oil products, natural gas, and biofuels & waste) used in 47 economic sectors. The results show that the emissions in MSEA countries are on the rise, with average annual growth rates ranging from 2.5% in Thailand to 19.3% in Laos. Biomass is one of the most important sources of carbon emissions, contributing between 11.8% and 76.7% of total carbon emissions, but its share has been declining in most countries, whereas the share of emissions from coal has risen sharply in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. We further examine the drivers behind the changes in emissions using index decomposition analysis. Economic growth was the strongest driver of growth in emissions, while population growth has only had a small effect on emission growth. Energy intensity varies widely across nations, but only significantly reduced CO2 emission growth in Thailand. The secondary sector considerable contributed to an increase in CO2 emissions in Laos and Vietnam, while the tertiary sector only moderately contributed to emissions in Thailand. Our study provides a better understanding of the composition and underlying factors of emission growth in MSEA countries, this could shape their low-carbon development pathway. Our results could also inform other emerging economies, which may become emission hotspots in the next decades, to develop low-carbon roadmaps, thereby contributing to the achievement of global climate change targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binyuan Liu
- Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society (IREES), Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747 AG, the Netherlands
| | - Yuru Guan
- Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society (IREES), Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747 AG, the Netherlands
| | - Yuli Shan
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
| | - Can Cui
- Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Klaus Hubacek
- Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society (IREES), Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747 AG, the Netherlands
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7
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Zheng Y, Yu H, Zhang Y. A bibliometric review on carbon accounting in social science during 1997-2020. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2022; 29:9393-9407. [PMID: 34853997 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17600-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
A social science perspective to carbon accounting is essential for determining the appropriate allocation of reduction responsibility, and thus contributing to addressing the climate crisis. It is crucial to have a comprehensive review of the literature in this field to better understand how relevant research has evolved, and to identify gaps that future studies need to work on. Based on the bibliographic database from the Web of Science (WOS), we identified 897 publications relevant to carbon accounting in the social sciences published between 1997 and 2020. Bibliometric analysis is applied to analyze the trends and features of carbon accounting research in the social sciences. The results show that international trade has spurred considerable scholarly interest in responsibility allocation from a consumption perspective. IO (input-output) analysis that can be used to derive embodied emissions in trade has therefore become the most popular method in this domain. It is also revealed that few publications have addressed quantification of emissions at organizational level. In consideration of the importance of organizations especially corporations in emission reduction, a shift of priority to this particular area is needed for further research. Carbon label and supply chain have emerged as a subject in keywords analysis, but have not been addressed enough either. To achieve carbon neutrality, solely relying on actions at country and organizational level may not be sufficient. Greener consumption behaviors of the public and individuals could play a remarkable role. Thus, it is important to formulate a consistent framework for labeling carbon embodied in products and investigate the drivers of consumers' low-carbon choices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yikun Zheng
- China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 3 Yinlian Rd, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 201306, People's Republic of China
| | - Haishan Yu
- China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 3 Yinlian Rd, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 201306, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yuquan Zhang
- China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 3 Yinlian Rd, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 201306, People's Republic of China
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Lan K, Ou L, Park S, Kelley SS, Nepal P, Kwon H, Cai H, Yao Y. Dynamic life-cycle carbon analysis for fast pyrolysis biofuel produced from pine residues: implications of carbon temporal effects. Biotechnol Biofuels 2021; 14:191. [PMID: 34587989 PMCID: PMC8482607 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-021-02027-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Woody biomass has been considered as a promising feedstock for biofuel production via thermochemical conversion technologies such as fast pyrolysis. Extensive Life Cycle Assessment studies have been completed to evaluate the carbon intensity of woody biomass-derived biofuels via fast pyrolysis. However, most studies assumed that woody biomass such as forest residues is a carbon-neutral feedstock like annual crops, despite a distinctive timeframe it takes to grow woody biomass. Besides, few studies have investigated the impacts of forest dynamics and the temporal effects of carbon on the overall carbon intensity of woody-derived biofuels. This study addressed such gaps by developing a life-cycle carbon analysis framework integrating dynamic modeling for forest and biorefinery systems with a time-based discounted Global Warming Potential (GWP) method developed in this work. The framework analyzed dynamic carbon and energy flows of a supply chain for biofuel production from pine residues via fast pyrolysis. RESULTS The mean carbon intensity of biofuel given by Monte Carlo simulation across three pine growth cases ranges from 40.8-41.2 g CO2e MJ-1 (static method) to 51.0-65.2 g CO2e MJ-1 (using the time-based discounted GWP method) when combusting biochar for energy recovery. If biochar is utilized as soil amendment, the carbon intensity reduces to 19.0-19.7 g CO2e MJ-1 (static method) and 29.6-43.4 g CO2e MJ-1 in the time-based method. Forest growth and yields (controlled by forest management strategies) show more significant impacts on biofuel carbon intensity when the temporal effect of carbon is taken into consideration. Variation in forest operations and management (e.g., energy consumption of thinning and harvesting), on the other hand, has little impact on the biofuel carbon intensity. CONCLUSIONS The carbon temporal effect, particularly the time lag of carbon sequestration during pine growth, has direct impacts on the carbon intensity of biofuels produced from pine residues from a stand-level pine growth and management point of view. The carbon implications are also significantly impacted by the assumptions of biochar end-of-life cases and forest management strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Lan
- Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, 2820 Faucette Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA
| | - Longwen Ou
- Systems Assessment Center, Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Sunkyu Park
- Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, 2820 Faucette Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA
| | - Stephen S Kelley
- Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, 2820 Faucette Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA
| | - Prakash Nepal
- USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, 1 Gifford Pinchot Drive, Madison, WI, 53726, USA
| | - Hoyoung Kwon
- Systems Assessment Center, Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Hao Cai
- Systems Assessment Center, Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA.
| | - Yuan Yao
- Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, 2820 Faucette Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA.
- Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale School of the Environment, Yale University, 380 Edwards Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
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Keith H, Vardon M, Obst C, Young V, Houghton RA, Mackey B. Evaluating nature-based solutions for climate mitigation and conservation requires comprehensive carbon accounting. Sci Total Environ 2021; 769:144341. [PMID: 33736241 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2020] [Revised: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Nature-based solutions (NbS) can address climate change, biodiversity loss, human well-being and their interactions in an integrated way. A major barrier to achieving this is the lack of comprehensiveness in current carbon accounting which has focused on flows rather than stocks of carbon and led to perverse outcomes. We propose a new comprehensive approach to carbon accounting based on the whole carbon cycle, covering both stocks and flows, and linking changes due to human activities with responses in the biosphere and atmosphere. We identify enhancements to accounting, namely; inclusion of all carbon reservoirs, changes in their condition and stability, disaggregated flows, and coverage of all land areas. This comprehensive approach recognises that both carbon stocks (as storage) and carbon flows (as sequestration) contribute to the ecosystem service of global climate regulation. In contrast, current ecosystem services measurement and accounting commonly use only carbon sequestration measured as net flows, while greenhouse gas inventories use flows from sources to sinks. This flow-based accounting has incentivised planting and maintaining young forests with high carbon uptake rates, resulting, perversely, in failing to reveal the greater mitigation benefit from protecting larger, more stable and resilient carbon stocks in natural forests. We demonstrate the benefits of carbon storage and sequestration for climate mitigation, in theory as ecosystem services within an ecosystem accounting framework, and in practice using field data that reveals differences in results between accounting for stocks or flows. Our proposed holistic and comprehensive carbon accounting makes transparent the benefits, trade-offs and shortcomings of NbS actions for climate mitigation and sustainability outcomes. Adopting this approach is imperative for revision of ecosystem accounting systems under the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting and contributing to evidence-based decision-making for international conventions on climate (UNFCCC), biodiversity (CBD) and sustainability (SDGs).
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather Keith
- Griffith Climate Change Response Program, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia.
| | - Michael Vardon
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia
| | - Carl Obst
- Institute for Development of Environmental-Economic Accounting, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Virginia Young
- The Australian Rainforest Conservation Society, Springbrook, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Brendan Mackey
- Griffith Climate Change Response Program, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
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10
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Alberdi I, Moreno-Fernández D, Cañellas I, Adame P, Hernández L. Deadwood stocks in south-western European forests: Ecological patterns and large scale assessments. Sci Total Environ 2020; 747:141237. [PMID: 32791408 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Revised: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Forest deadwood is a relevant factor in the provision of ecosystem services (forest biodiversity, carbon sequestration, recreational and aesthetic values), but it also influences the risk and impact of forest perturbations. Hence, reliable estimations are urgently need in the lack of detailed information in Mediterranean forests at large scales. In this study we provide, for the first time, national-level estimations for Spain based on the information from the Spanish National Forest Inventory (38,945 plots). In addition, we compare and validate two approaches for estimating deadwood stocks where data is lacking; the first of these being a modelling approach based on stand, climatic and physiographical variables, and the other considers the ratio between deadwood and living biomass. We also examine the different patterns stock across forest types in four biogeographical regions according to a broad-spectrum of species groups and forests with different degrees of anthropogenic influence. The degrees are based on levels of protection and naturalness categories. The modelling approach provides more robust deadwood estimates and better predictive capacity than the ratio approach. Alpine (6.09 Mg.ha-1) and Atlantic (3.53 Mg.ha-1) bioregion forests store significantly higher mean deadwood biomass stocks than Macaronesian and Mediterranean forests. However, the share of deadwood in relation to the total biomass stock is greater in Mediterranean biogeographical region. As regards species groups, the mean deadwood stock of mixed forests doubled the stocks found in conifer and broadleaved dominated forests. We also found significant differences in deadwood biomass stocks between forests with different levels of anthropogenic protection. However, forest types with intensive forest management had contrasting figures for deadwood stock. The mean values obtained at national level according to forest type, bioregion and degree of anthropogenic influence, provide baseline information for carbon accounting as well as for other forest policy planning and management strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iciar Alberdi
- Dpto. Selvicultura y Gestión de los Sistemas Forestales, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)- Centro de Investigación Forestal (CIFOR), Spain.
| | - Daniel Moreno-Fernández
- Dpto. Selvicultura y Gestión de los Sistemas Forestales, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)- Centro de Investigación Forestal (CIFOR), Spain; Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Forest Ecology and Restoration Group, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Madrid, Spain
| | - Isabel Cañellas
- Dpto. Selvicultura y Gestión de los Sistemas Forestales, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)- Centro de Investigación Forestal (CIFOR), Spain.
| | - Patricia Adame
- Dpto. Selvicultura y Gestión de los Sistemas Forestales, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)- Centro de Investigación Forestal (CIFOR), Spain.
| | - Laura Hernández
- Dpto. Selvicultura y Gestión de los Sistemas Forestales, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)- Centro de Investigación Forestal (CIFOR), Spain.
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Shan W, Jin X, Yang X, Gu Z, Han B, Li H, Zhou Y. A framework for assessing carbon effect of land consolidation with life cycle assessment: A case study in China. J Environ Manage 2020; 266:110557. [PMID: 32392137 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Revised: 03/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Ecological transformation is an inevitable trend for the development of land consolidation (LC) worldwide, and the research on carbon effect of LC is an important theoretical basis for promoting the construction of Eco-LC. However, there is currently a lack of analysis of the carbon effect based on the whole process of LC, ignoring the stage elements and temporal factors. This study applied Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method to construct a research framework and accounting system for carbon footprint assessment of LC, and explored the carbon effect in a typical land consolidation project area (LCPA) of China. Results showed that: (a) The carbon effect of the project area was characterized as carbon emission during the whole life cycle of LC. Carbon footprint before and after LC was 3.251 tCE·ha-1·a-1 and 2.401 tCE·ha-1·a-1 respectively. The carbon storage reduced and the carbon footprint is declined by 0.850 tCE·ha-1·a-1. (b) Carbon effect varied among different stages of LC. The Benefit Period (BP) was the only stage that was manifested as carbon absorption (-14.65%), while all the other stages were manifested as carbon emission. Among them, as to the carbon emission, the Construction Period (CP) played a decisive role with the most proportion (102.74%), followed by DP and RP, and the carbon effect of PP was negligible. (c) The dominant factors of carbon effect at different stages were also different. During CP, cement contributed the most to the carbon emission in this case. During RP, carbon sequestration effect of cropland proved to be the most significant. During RP, the carbon sequestration effect of cultivated land and the carbon emission effect of unused land were the most prominent. During BP, the carbon sequestration capacity of farmland ecosystems proved to be greater than the carbon emissions from agricultural activities. This study contributes to providing certain theoretical guidance and method reference for the realization of Low-Carbon LC project planning, with this comprehensive and reliable method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Shan
- School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Exploitation and Protection, Ministry of Land and Resources, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China.
| | - Xiaobin Jin
- School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Exploitation and Protection, Ministry of Land and Resources, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China.
| | - Xuhong Yang
- School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Zhengming Gu
- School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Bo Han
- School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Hanbing Li
- School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Yinkang Zhou
- School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Exploitation and Protection, Ministry of Land and Resources, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia Distinct, Nanjing, 210023, China
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Wise L, Marland E, Marland G, Hoyle J, Kowalczyk T, Ruseva T, Colby J, Kinlaw T. Optimizing sequestered carbon in forest offset programs: balancing accounting stringency and participation. Carbon Balance Manag 2019; 14:16. [PMID: 31797110 PMCID: PMC7227184 DOI: 10.1186/s13021-019-0131-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although there is broad agreement that negative carbon emissions may be required in order to meet the global climate change targets specified in the Paris Agreement and that carbon sequestration in the terrestrial biosphere can be an important contributor, there are important accounting issues that often discourage forest carbon sequestration projects. The legislation establishing the California forest offset program, for example, requires that offsets be "real, additional, quantifiable, permanent, verifiable, and enforceable". While these are all clearly desirable attributes, their implementation has been a great challenge in balancing complexity, expense, and risk. Most forest offset protocols carry similar accounting objectives, but often with different details, (e.g. Richards and Huebner in Carbon Manag 3(4):393-410, 2012 and Galik et al. in Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 14:677-690, 2009). The result is that the complexity, expense, and risk of participation discourage participation and make it more difficult to achieve climate mitigation goals. We focus on the requirements for accounting and permanence to illustrate that current requirements disproportionately disadvantage small landowners. RESULTS The simplified 1040EZ filing system for U.S. income taxes may provide insight for a protocol model that balances reward, effort, and risk, while still achieving the overall objectives of standardized offset protocols. In this paper, we present initial ideas and lay the groundwork behind a "2050EZ" protocol for forest carbon sequestration as a complement to existing protocols. CONCLUSION The Paris Agreement states that "Parties should take action to conserve and enhance, as appropriate, sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases." The Paris Agreement also refers to issues such as equity, sustainable development, and other non-carbon benefits. The challenge is to provide incentives for maintaining and increasing the amount of carbon sequestered in the biosphere. Monitoring and verification of carbon storage need to be sufficient to demonstrate sequestration from the atmosphere while providing clear incentives and simple accounting approaches that encourage participation by diverse participants, including small land holders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsey Wise
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, Appalachian State University, Boone, USA
| | - Eric Marland
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, Appalachian State University, Boone, USA.
| | - Gregg Marland
- Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Appalachian State University, Boone, USA
| | - Jason Hoyle
- Appalachian Energy Center, Appalachian State University, Boone, USA
| | - Tamara Kowalczyk
- Department of Accounting, Appalachian State University, Boone, USA
| | - Tatyana Ruseva
- Department of Government and Justice Studies, Appalachian State University, Boone, USA
| | - Jeffrey Colby
- Department of Geography and Planning, Appalachian State University, Boone, USA
| | - Timothy Kinlaw
- Department of Geography and Planning, Appalachian State University, Boone, USA
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Forsell N, Korosuo A, Gusti M, Rüter S, Havlik P, Obersteiner M. Impact of modelling choices on setting the reference levels for the EU forest carbon sinks: how do different assumptions affect the country-specific forest reference levels? Carbon Balance Manag 2019; 14:10. [PMID: 31482440 PMCID: PMC7227277 DOI: 10.1186/s13021-019-0125-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In 2018, the European Union (EU) adopted Regulation 2018/841, which sets the accounting rules for the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector for the period 2021-2030. This regulation is part of the EU's commitments to comply with the Paris Agreement. According to the new regulation, emissions and removals for managed forest land are to be accounted against a projected forest reference level (FRL) that is estimated by each EU Member State based on the continuation of forest management practices of the reference period 2000-2009. The aim of this study is to assess how different modelling assumptions possible under the regulation may influence the FRL estimates. Applying the interlinked G4M and WoodCarbonMonitor modelling frameworks, we estimate potential FRLs for each individual EU Member State following a set of conceptual scenarios, each reflecting different modelling assumptions that are consistent with the regulation and the technical guidance document published by the European Commission. RESULTS The simulations of the conceptual scenarios show that differences in the underlying modelling assumptions may have a large impact on the projected FRL. Depending on the assumptions taken, the projected annual carbon sink on managed forest land in the EU varies from -319 MtCO2 to -397 MtCO2 during the first compliance period (2021-2025) and from -296 MtCO2 to -376 MtCO2 during the second compliance period (i.e. 2026-2030). These estimates can be compared with the 2017 national GHG inventories which estimated that the forest carbon sink for managed forest land was -373 MtCO2 in 2015. On an aggregated EU level, the assumptions related to climate change and the allocation of forest management practices have the largest impacts on the FRL estimates. On the other hand, assumptions concerning the starting year of the projection, stratification of managed forest land, and timing of individual management activities are found to have relatively small impacts on the FRL estimates. CONCLUSIONS We provide a first assessment of the level of uncertainty associated with the different assumptions discussed in the technical guidance document and the LULUCF regulation, and the impact of these assumptions on the country-specific FRL. The results highlight the importance of transparent documentation by the EU Member States on how their FRL has been calculated, and on the underlying assumptions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicklas Forsell
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
| | - Anu Korosuo
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
| | - Mykola Gusti
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
- Lviv Polytechnic National University, 12 Bandera Str., Lviv, 79013 Ukraine
| | - Sebastian Rüter
- Thünen Institute of Wood Research, Leuschnerstraße 91c, 21031 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Petr Havlik
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
| | - Michael Obersteiner
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
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Bynum C, Sze C, Kearns D, Polovick B, Simon K. An examination of a voluntary policy model to effect behavioral change and influence interactions and decision making in the freight sector. Transp Res D Transp Environ 2018; 61:19-32. [PMID: 31456651 PMCID: PMC6711476 DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2016.11.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Freight transportation is essential to maintaining commerce and economies in the United States and globally. However, freight transportation is known to have significant environmental and public health impacts. Harmful emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, hydrofluorocarbons, and black carbon increase the risk of global climate change. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter contribute to serious public health risks including increased incidences of premature death, and increased severity of respiratory and cardiovascular illness. As trade is increasingly globalized and economies expand, harmful air emissions from goods movement are projected to increase at faster rates than all other sources of transport-related emissions. While mandatory rules such as advanced vehicle emission and fuel quality standards reduce emissions from new vehicles, the vast legacy fleet of heavy duty diesel vehicles present a challenge for policy makers around the world. This paper examines how a voluntary policy model, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport Partnership, fosters behavior change, facilitates strategic interactions and enables more informed decision-making in the freight sector to improve performance and reduce emissions. The effectiveness of this innovative model has generated international interest and led to program replication in other countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl Bynum
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA
| | - Chien Sze
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA
| | - Denise Kearns
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA
| | - Buddy Polovick
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA
| | - Karl Simon
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460, USA
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Turk JK, Reay DS, Haszeldine RS. Gas-fired power in the UK: Bridging supply gaps and implications of domestic shale gas exploitation for UK climate change targets. Sci Total Environ 2018; 616-617:318-325. [PMID: 29121580 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Revised: 10/31/2017] [Accepted: 11/01/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
There is a projected shortcoming in the fourth carbon budget of 7.5%. This shortfall may be increased if the UK pursues a domestic shale gas industry to offset projected decreases in traditional gas supply. Here we estimate that, if the project domestic gas supply gap for power generation were to be met by UK shale gas with low fugitive emissions (0.08%), an additional 20.4MtCO2e1 would need to be accommodated during carbon budget periods 3-6. We find that a modest fugitive emissions rate (1%) for UK shale gas would increase global emissions compared to importing an equal quantity of Qatari liquefied natural gas. Additionally, we estimate that natural gas electricity generation would emit 420-466MtCO2e (460 central estimate) during the same time period within the traded EU emissions cap. We conclude that domestic shale gas production with even a modest 1% fugitive emissions rate would risk exceedance of UK carbon budgets. We also highlight that, under the current production-based greenhouse gas accounting system, the UK is incentivized to import natural gas rather than produce it domestically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy K Turk
- School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, United Kingdom.
| | - David S Reay
- School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, United Kingdom
| | - R Stuart Haszeldine
- School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, United Kingdom; Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage, High School Yards, The University of Edinburgh, EH1 1LZ, United Kingdom
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Morandé JA, Stockert CM, Liles GC, Williams JN, Smart DR, Viers JH. From berries to blocks: carbon stock quantification of a California vineyard. Carbon Balance Manag 2017; 12:5. [PMID: 28413849 PMCID: PMC5313494 DOI: 10.1186/s13021-017-0071-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2016] [Accepted: 02/03/2017] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Quantifying terrestrial carbon (C) stocks in vineyards represents an important opportunity for estimating C sequestration in perennial cropping systems. Considering 7.2 M ha are dedicated to winegrape production globally, the potential for annual C capture and storage in this crop is of interest to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we used destructive sampling to measure C stocks in the woody biomass of 15-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines from a vineyard in California's northern San Joaquin Valley. We characterize C stocks in terms of allometric variation between biomass fractions of roots, aboveground wood, canes, leaves and fruits, and then test correlations between easy-to-measure variables such as trunk diameter, pruning weights and harvest weight to vine biomass fractions. Carbon stocks at the vineyard block scale were validated from biomass mounds generated during vineyard removal. RESULTS Total vine C was estimated at 12.3 Mg C ha-1, of which 8.9 Mg C ha-1 came from perennial vine biomass. Annual biomass was estimated at 1.7 Mg C ha-1 from leaves and canes and 1.7 Mg C ha-1 from fruit. Strong, positive correlations were found between the diameter of the trunk and overall woody C stocks (R2 = 0.85), pruning weights and leaf and fruit C stocks (R2 = 0.93), and between fruit weight and annual C stocks (R2 = 0.96). CONCLUSIONS Vineyard C partitioning obtained in this study provides detailed C storage estimations in order to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of winegrape C. Allometric equations based on simple and practical biomass and biometric measurements could enable winegrape growers to more easily estimate existing and future C stocks by scaling up from berries and vines to vineyard blocks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christine M. Stockert
- Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA USA
| | - Garrett C. Liles
- College of Agriculture, California State University, Chico, CA USA
| | - John N. Williams
- Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CIIDIR-Unidad Oaxaca, Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, Oaxaca Mexico
| | - David R. Smart
- Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA USA
| | - Joshua H. Viers
- Environmental Systems, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA USA
- School of Engineering, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA USA
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Duncanson L, Huang W, Johnson K, Swatantran A, McRoberts RE, Dubayah R. Implications of allometric model selection for county-level biomass mapping. Carbon Balance Manag 2017; 12:18. [PMID: 29046991 PMCID: PMC5647317 DOI: 10.1186/s13021-017-0086-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2017] [Accepted: 10/07/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Carbon accounting in forests remains a large area of uncertainty in the global carbon cycle. Forest aboveground biomass is therefore an attribute of great interest for the forest management community, but the accuracy of aboveground biomass maps depends on the accuracy of the underlying field estimates used to calibrate models. These field estimates depend on the application of allometric models, which often have unknown and unreported uncertainties outside of the size class or environment in which they were developed. RESULTS Here, we test three popular allometric approaches to field biomass estimation, and explore the implications of allometric model selection for county-level biomass mapping in Sonoma County, California. We test three allometric models: Jenkins et al. (For Sci 49(1): 12-35, 2003), Chojnacky et al. (Forestry 87(1): 129-151, 2014) and the US Forest Service's Component Ratio Method (CRM). We found that Jenkins and Chojnacky models perform comparably, but that at both a field plot level and a total county level there was a ~ 20% difference between these estimates and the CRM estimates. Further, we show that discrepancies are greater in high biomass areas with high canopy covers and relatively moderate heights (25-45 m). The CRM models, although on average ~ 20% lower than Jenkins and Chojnacky, produce higher estimates in the tallest forests samples (> 60 m), while Jenkins generally produces higher estimates of biomass in forests < 50 m tall. Discrepancies do not continually increase with increasing forest height, suggesting that inclusion of height in allometric models is not primarily driving discrepancies. Models developed using all three allometric models underestimate high biomass and overestimate low biomass, as expected with random forest biomass modeling. However, these deviations were generally larger using the Jenkins and Chojnacky allometries, suggesting that the CRM approach may be more appropriate for biomass mapping with lidar. CONCLUSIONS These results confirm that allometric model selection considerably impacts biomass maps and estimates, and that allometric model errors remain poorly understood. Our findings that allometric model discrepancies are not explained by lidar heights suggests that allometric model form does not drive these discrepancies. A better understanding of the sources of allometric model errors, particularly in high biomass systems, is essential for improved forest biomass mapping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Duncanson
- Biosciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, USA
- Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
| | - Wenli Huang
- Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
| | - Kristofer Johnson
- USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Newton Square, PA USA
| | - Anu Swatantran
- Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
| | | | - Ralph Dubayah
- Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
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Maraseni TN, Reardon-Smith K, Griffiths G, Apan A. Savanna burning methodology for fire management and emissions reduction: a critical review of influencing factors. Carbon Balance Manag 2016; 11:25. [PMID: 27909461 PMCID: PMC5112293 DOI: 10.1186/s13021-016-0067-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2016] [Accepted: 11/07/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Savanna fire is a major source of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In Australia, savanna fire contributes about 3% of annual GHG emissions reportable to the Kyoto Protocol. In order to reduce GHG emissions from savanna burning, the Australian government has developed and approved a Kyoto compliant savanna controlled burning methodology-the first legal instrument of this kind at a global level-under its Emission Reduction Fund. However, this approved methodology is currently only applicable to nine vegetation fuel types across northern parts of Australia in areas which receive on average over 600 mm rainfall annually, covering only 15.4% of the total land area in Australia. Savanna ecosystems extend across a large proportion of mainland Australia. This paper provides a critical review of ten key factors that need to be considered in developing a savanna burning methodology applicable to the other parts of Australia. It will also inform discussion in other countries intent on developing similar emissions reduction strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tek Narayan Maraseni
- Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, 4350 Australia
| | - Kathryn Reardon-Smith
- Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, 4350 Australia
| | - Greg Griffiths
- Natural Resources Management and Parks, South Burnett Regional Council, Queensland, 4610 Australia
| | - Armando Apan
- Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, 4350 Australia
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Russell MB, Domke GM, Woodall CW, D’Amato AW. Comparisons of allometric and climate-derived estimates of tree coarse root carbon stocks in forests of the United States. Carbon Balance Manag 2015; 10:20. [PMID: 26366191 PMCID: PMC4559578 DOI: 10.1186/s13021-015-0032-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2015] [Accepted: 08/18/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Refined estimation of carbon (C) stocks within forest ecosystems is a critical component of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of projected climate change through forest C management. Specifically, belowground C stocks are currently estimated in the United States' national greenhouse gas inventory (US NGHGI) using nationally consistent species- and diameter-specific equations applied to individual trees. Recent scientific evidence has pointed to the importance of climate as a driver of belowground C stocks. This study estimates belowground C using current methods applied in the US NGHGI and describes a new approach for merging both allometric models with climate-derived predictions of belowground C stocks. RESULTS Climate-adjusted predictions were variable depending on the region and forest type of interest, but represented an increase of 368.87 Tg of belowground C across the US, or a 6.4 % increase when compared to currently-implemented NGHGI estimates. Random forests regressions indicated that aboveground biomass, stand age, and stand origin (i.e., planted versus artificial regeneration) were useful predictors of belowground C stocks. Decreases in belowground C stocks were modeled after projecting mean annual temperatures at various locations throughout the US up to year 2090. CONCLUSIONS By combining allometric equations with trends in temperature, we conclude that climate variables can be used to adjust the US NGHGI estimates of belowground C stocks. Such strategies can be used to determine the effects of future global change scenarios within a C accounting framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew B. Russell
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 USA
| | - Grant M. Domke
- USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, St. Paul, MN 55108 USA
| | | | - Anthony W. D’Amato
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405 USA
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Caro D, Rugani B, Pulselli FM, Benetto E. Implications of a consumer-based perspective for the estimation of GHG emissions. The illustrative case of Luxembourg. Sci Total Environ 2015; 508:67-75. [PMID: 25437954 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.11.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2014] [Revised: 11/13/2014] [Accepted: 11/16/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The Kyoto protocol has established an accounting system for national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions according to a geographic criterion (producer perspective), such as that proposed by the IPCC guidelines for national GHG inventories. However, the representativeness of this approach is still being debated, because the role of final consumers (consumer perspective) is not considered in the emission allocation system. This paper explores the usefulness of a hybrid analysis, including input-output (IO) and process inventory data, as a complementary tool for estimating and allocating national GHG emissions according to both consumer- and producer-based perspectives. We assess the historical GHG impact profile (from 1995 to 2009) of Luxembourg, which is taken as a case study. The country's net consumption over time is estimated to generate about 28,700 Gg CO2e/year on average. Compared to the conventional IPCC inventory, the IO-based framework typically shows much higher emission estimations. This relevant discrepancy is mainly due to the different points of view obtained from the hybrid model, in particular with regard to the contribution of imported goods and services. Detailing the GHG inventory by economic activity and considering a wider system boundary make the hybrid IO method advantageous as compared to the IPCC approach, but its effective implementation is still limited by the relatively complex modeling system, as well as the lack of coordination and scarce availability of datasets at the national level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dario Caro
- Ecodynamics Group/DEEPS, Department of Environment, Earth and Physical Sciences, University of Siena, Via A. Moro, 2, I-53100 Siena, Italy; Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
| | - Benedetto Rugani
- Public Research Centre Henri Tudor (CRPHT), Resource Centre for Environmental Technologies (CRTE), 6A, avenue des Hauts-Fourneaux, L-4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Federico Maria Pulselli
- Ecodynamics Group/DEEPS, Department of Environment, Earth and Physical Sciences, University of Siena, Via A. Moro, 2, I-53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Enrico Benetto
- Public Research Centre Henri Tudor (CRPHT), Resource Centre for Environmental Technologies (CRTE), 6A, avenue des Hauts-Fourneaux, L-4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
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