Community and farm forestry climate mitigation projects: case studies from Uttaranchal,India

The methodologies for forest mitigation projects still present challenges to project developers for fulfillment of criteria within the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or other such mechanisms for the purpose of earning carbon credits. This paper systematically approaches the process of establishing carbon (C) stocks for baseline (BSL) and mitigation scenario (MSL) for two case studies i.e., community and farm forestry projects in Uttaranchal, India. The analysis of various interventions shows that both projects present high carbon mitigation potential. However, the C reversibility risk is lower in long-rotation pine and mixed species plantation on community lands. The project is financially viable though not highly lucrative but the carbon mitigation potential in this ‘restoration of degraded lands’ type of project is immense provided challenges in the initial phase are adequately overcome. C revenue is an essential driver for investors in community projects. The short-rotation timber species such as Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus), Poplar (Populus) have high internal rates of return (IRR) and high carbon benefit reversibility potential due to fluctuations in market prices of commodities produced. The land holdings are small and bundling is desired for projects to achieve economies of scale. The methodological concerns such as sampling intensities, monitoring methodologies, sharing of benefits with communities and bundling arrangements for projects need further research to make these projects viable.     

Development of regional climate mitigation baseline for a dominant agro-ecological zone of Karnataka,India

Setting a baseline for carbon stock changes in forest and land use sector mitigation projects is an essential step for assessing additionality of the project. There are two approaches for setting baselines namely, project-specific and regional baseline. This paper presents the methodology adopted for estimating the land available for mitigation, for developing a regional baseline, transaction cost involved and a comparison of project-specific and regional baseline. The study showed that it is possible to estimate the potential land and its suitability for afforestation and reforestation mitigation projects, using existing maps and data, in the dry zone of Karnataka, southern India. The study adopted a three-step approach for developing a regional baseline, namely: (i) identification of likely baseline options for land use, (ii) estimation of baseline rates of land-use change, and (iii) quantification of baseline carbon profile over time. The analysis showed that carbon stock estimates made for wastelands and fallow lands for project-specific as well as the regional baseline are comparable. The ratio of wasteland Carbon stocks of a project to regional baseline is 1.02, and that of fallow lands in the project to regional baseline is 0.97. The cost of conducting field studies for determination of regional baseline is about a quarter of the cost of developing a project-specific baseline on a per hectare basis. The study has shown the reliability, feasibility and cost-effectiveness of adopting regional baseline for forestry sector mitigation projects.

Carbon reduction potential and cost evaluation of different mitigation approaches in China's coal to olefin Industry

Coal-based olefin (CTO) industry as a complement of traditional petrochemical industry plays vital role in China's national economic development. However, high CO₂ emission in CTO industry is one of the fatal problems to hinder its development. In this work, the carbon emission and mitigation potentials by different reduction pathways are evaluated. The economic cost is analyzed and compared as well. According to the industry development plan, the carbon emissions from China's CTO industry will attain 189.43 million ton CO₂ (MtCO₂) and 314.11 MtCO₂ in 2020 and 2030, respectively. With the advanced technology level, the maximal carbon mitigation potential could be attained to 15.3% and 21.9% in 2020 and 2030. If the other optional mitigation ways are combined together, the carbon emission could further reduce to some extent. In general, the order of mitigation potential is followed as: feedstock alteration by natural gas > CO₂ hydrogenation with renewable electricity applied > CCS technology. The mitigation cost analysis indicates that on the basis of 2015 situation, the economic penalty for feedstock alteration is the lowest, ranged between 186 and 451 CNY/tCO₂, and the cost from CCS technology is ranged between 404 and 562 CNY/tCO₂, which is acceptable if the CO₂ enhanced oil recovery and carbon tax are considered. However, for the CO₂ hydrogenation technology, the cost is extremely high and there is almost no application possibility at present.     

Methodological issues in forestry mitigation projects: a case study of Kolar district

There is a need to assess climate change mitigation opportunities in forest sector in India in the context of methodological issues such as additionality, permanence, leakage and baseline development in formulating forestry mitigation projects. A case study of forestry mitigation project in semi-arid community grazing lands and farmlands in Kolar district of Karnataka, was undertaken with regard to baseline and project scenario development, estimation of carbon stock change in the project, leakage estimation and assessment of cost-effectiveness of mitigation projects. Further, the transaction costs to develop project, and environmental and socio-economic impact of mitigation project was assessed. The study shows the feasibility of establishing baselines and project C-stock changes. Since the area has low or insignificant biomass, leakage is not an issue. The overall mitigation potential in Kolar for a total area of 14,000 ha under various mitigation options is 278,380 t C at a rate of 20 t C/ha for the period 2005–2035, which is approximately 0.67 t C/ha/year inclusive of harvest regimes under short rotation and long rotation mitigation options. The transaction cost for baseline establishment is less than a rupee/t C and for project scenario development is about Rs. 1.5–3.75/t C. The project enhances biodiversity and the socio-economic impact is also significant.

Carbon mitigation potential and costs of forestry options in Brazil,China, India,Indonesia, Mexico,the Philippines and Tanzania

This paper summarizes studies of carbon (C) mitigation potential and costs of about 40 forestry options in seven developing countries. Each study uses the same methodological approach – Comprehensive Mitigation Assessment Process (COMAP) – to estimate the above parameters between 2000 and 2030. The approach requires the projection of baseline and mitigation land-use scenarios. Coupled with data on a per ha basis on C sequestration or avoidance, and costs and benefits, it allows the estimation of monetary benefit per Mg C, and the total costs and carbon potential. The results show that about half (3.0 Pg C) the cumulative mitigation potential of 6.2 Petagram (Pg) C between 2000 and 2030 in the seven countries (about 200× 10⁶ Mg C yr^-1) could be achieved at a negative cost and the remainder at costs ranging up to $100 Mg C^-1. About 5 Pg C could be achieved, at a cost less than $20 per Mg C. Negative cost potential indicates that non-carbon revenue is sufficient to offset direct costs of these options. The achievable potential is likely to be smaller, however, due to market, institutional, and sociocultural barriers that can delay or prevent the implementation of the analyzed options.     

广东省人为源氨排放清单及减排潜力研究

根据各类氨排放源活动水平数据,采用排放因子法,建立了2010年广东省人为源氨排放清单,在分析其排放特征的基础上探讨了氨的减排潜力.结果表明:2010年广东省人为源氨排放量为582.9 kt,畜禽和氮肥施用是排放贡献最大的人为源,分别占总排放量的44.2%和40.4%;茂名、湛江和肇庆依次是排放量最大的3个城市,共占广东省总排放量33.0%;在畜禽源中,肉猪排放量最大,占畜禽源排放总量44.4%,其次是肉鸡、母猪和黄牛,分别占16.0%、15.2%和6.5%;畜禽在畜舍、储存管理、农田施肥和放牧4个养殖阶段的氨排放量不同;控制农业源对NH3的减排起关键性作用,茂名、湛江和肇庆是广东省重点控制的3个城市,肉猪、母猪、肉鸡、黄牛和氮肥施用则为重点控制源,主要控制措施包括低氮饲料喂养、畜舍改造、粪便密封、粪肥注施、延长放牧时间和使用尿素替代物.     

Climate policy integration in the land use sector: Mitigation,adaptation and sustainable development linkages

This article re-conceptualizes Climate Policy Integration (CPI) in the land use sector to highlight the need to assess the level of integration of mitigation and adaptation objectives and policies to minimize trade-offs and to exploit synergies. It suggests that effective CPI in the land use sector requires i) internal climate policy coherence between mitigation and adaptation objectives and policies; ii) external climate policy coherence between climate change and development objectives; iii) vertical policy integration to mainstream climate change into sectoral policies and; iv) horizontal policy integration by overarching governance structures for cross-sectoral coordination. This framework is used to examine CPI in the land use sector of Indonesia. The findings indicate that adaptation actors and policies are the main advocates of internal policy coherence. External policy coherence between mitigation and development planning is called for, but remains to be operationalized. Bureaucratic politics has in turn undermined vertical and horizontal policy integration. Under these circumstances it is unlikely that the Indonesian bureaucracy can deliver strong coordinated action addressing climate change in the land use sector, unless sectoral ministries internalize a strong mandate on internal and external climate policy coherence and find ways to coordinate policy action effectively.     

Carbon storage versus fossil fuel substitution: a climate change mitigation option for two different land use categories based on short and long rotation forestry in India

Short rotation bioenergy crops for energy production are considered an effective means to mitigate the greenhouse effect, mainly due to their ability to substitute fossil fuels. Alternatively, carbon can be sequestered and stored in the living biomass. This paper compares the two land use categories (forest land and non-forest land) for two management practices (short rotation vs. long rotation) to study mitigation potential of afforestation and fossil fuel substitution as compared to carbon storage. Significant carbon benefit can be obtained in the long run from using lands for growing short rotation energy crops and substituting fossil fuels by the biomass thus produced, as opposed to sequestering carbon in the biomass of the trees. When growth rates are high and harvest is used in a sustainable manner (i.e., replanting after every harvest), the opportunities for net carbon reductions appear to be fossil fuel substitution, rather than storage in ecosystem biomass. Our results suggest that at year 100 a total of 216 Mg C ha⁻¹ is sequestered for afforestation/reforestation using long rotation sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.f) species, as opposed to offset of 412 Mg C ha⁻¹ for carbon storage and fossil fuel substitution for short rotation poplar (Populus Deltoides Marsh) plantations. The bioenergy option results in a continuous stream of about 3 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ of carbon benefits per year on forest land and 4 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ on non-forest land. Earlier studies have shown that in India waste land availability for establishing energy plantations is in the range of 9.6 to 36.5 Mha. Thus, using the 758 Tg biomass per year generated from 9.6 Mha waste land gives a mitigation potential in the range of 227 to 303 Tg C per year for carbon storage and fossil fuel substitution from poplar plantation for substituting coal based power generation. Depending upon the land availability for plantation, the potential for energy generation is in the range of 11,370 PJ, possibly amounting to a bioenergy supply of 43% of the total projected energy consumption in 2015. Further studies are needed to estimate the mitigation potential of other species with different productivities for overall estimation of the economic feasibility and social acceptability in a tropical country like India.     

湖北省油菜测土配方施肥下N2O减排潜力估算

以油菜种植大省-湖北省为案例地,在分析农田氮肥施用与油菜籽产量的基础上,依据氮肥利用率变化,估算测土配方施肥技术在湖北省全面推广的情况下,带来的N2O减排潜力.结果表明,在湖北省油菜种植中,测土配方施肥技术的推广将带来646.32ktCO2-eq的理论减排.以2012年湖北省油菜测土配方推广情况为基础,进一步全面实施该项技术,将产生173.91ktCO2-eq的减排量,占油菜种植因氮肥使用而产生的N2O排放总量的13.98%.测土配方施肥通过优化营养元素配比,提高油菜氮肥利用效率,是一项控制与减少农业N2O排放、减少氮素在环境中盈余量的有效措施.     

Carbon emissions from land-use change: an analysis of causal factors in Chiapas, Mexico

This study examines the correlation between deforestation, carbon dioxide emissions and potential causal factors of land-use change within an area of 2.7 million ha in Chiapas, southern Mexico between 1975 and 1996. Digitized land-use maps and interpreted satellite images were used to quantify land-use changes. Geo-referenced databases of population and digitized maps of roads and topography were used to determine which factors could be used to explain observed changes in land-use. The study analyzed the relationship between carbon emissions during this period and two types of possible causal factors: “predisposing” factors that determine the susceptibility of a particular area of forest to change (slope, distance to agriculture and roads, land tenure) and “driving” factors representing the pressures for change (population density, poverty). The correlated factors were combined in risk matrices, which show the proportion of vulnerable carbon stocks lost in areas with defined social, economic and environmental characteristics. Such matrices could be used to predict future deforestation rates and provide a verifiable evidence-base for defining baseline carbon emissions for forest conservation projects. Based on the results of the analysis, two matrices were constructed, using population density as the single most important driving factor and distance from roads and distance from agriculture as the two alternatives for the predisposing factors of deforestation.     

巢湖十五里河沉积物磷吸收潜力及对外源碳的响应

2017年7月(夏季)和2018年1月(冬季),在巢湖十五里河干流的城乡梯度方向选择5个代表性采样点位,采集表层沉积物样,利用实验室培养法,测算沉积物磷的总吸收潜力SPU_(live)、非生物吸收潜力SPU_(kill)和生物吸收潜力SPU_(biotic),评估不同外加碳源(乙酸钠、葡萄糖及两者的混合溶液)对SPU_(biotic)的影响水平.结果表明,十五里河沉积物SPU_(live)存在时空差异性,且表现为SPU_(kill)高于SPU_(biotic);未添加碳源时,夏季和冬季的SPU_(kill)均值分别为3.016μg·(g·h)~(-1)和3.368μg·(g·h)~(-1),SPU_(biotic)均值分别为0.784μg·(g·h)~(-1)和0.323μg·(g·h)~(-1),夏、冬两季的非生物吸收潜力存在显著差异性;添加外源碳后,不仅SPU_(biotic)有了较大幅度的提升,生物因素在沉积物磷吸收中的贡献率水平也有了明显提高,且两者均表现为添加乙酸钠效果最显著,添加葡萄糖效果次之,混合碳源的效果相对较弱.由沉积物磷的生物吸收对外源碳的响应情况,可以判定十五里河沉积物磷吸收存在一定程度的碳限制性.