An Investigation of the Carbon Neutrality of Wood Bioenergy

 Download as PDF (Size:346KB)  HTML    PP. 989-1000

DOI: 10.4236/jep.2012.39114

Author(s)    

Roger A. Sedjo, Xiaohui Tian

Abstract 

Wood biomass has been viewed as “carbon neutral”—its uses as energy have a zero carbon footprint. Some observers argue that the use of wood biofuels will result in a decrease of the forest stock and a net reduction of the carbon captured in the forest. Such assessments take a static, accounting view of forest systems and do not consider the effects of management in renewing the forest and increasing its extent or ability to sequester carbon. This paper addresses the carbon neutrality debate using a dynamic optimization forest management model to examine the effect on the existing and future forests of a changing demand for wood biomass. The results show that under market optimizing conditions, when future demand is anticipated to increase for significant periods, the response of managers will be to increase the intensity of forest production thereby offsetting much of the carbon released in bioenergy production.

References

[1]	Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “IPCC Guide- lines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Vol. 4: Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use,” IPCC, Geneva, 2006.
[2]	B. Lippke, et al., “Letter to the Congress 12 May 2010,” 2010.
[3]	W. Schlesinger, et al., “Letter to the Congress 20 July 20 2010,” 2009.
[4]	Manomet Center for Conservation Science, “Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy Study,” Manomet Center for Conservation Science, Manomet, 2010. http://www.manomet.org/sites/manomet.org/files/Manomet_Biomass_Report_Full_LoRez.pdf
[5]	R. W. Malmsheimer, J. L. Bowyer, J. S. Fried, E. Gee, R. L. Izlar, R. A. Miner, I. A. Munn, E. Oneil and W. C. Stewart, “Managing Forests because Carbon Matters: Integrating Energy, Products, and Land Management Policy,” Journal of Forestry, Vol. 109, No. 17, 2011, pp. S35-S39. http://www.safnet.org/documents/JOFSupplement.pdf
[6]	T. Searchinger, R. Heimlich, R. A. Houghton, F. Dong, A. Elobeid, J. Fabiosa, S. Tokgoz, D. Hayes and Yu. Tun- Hsiang, “Use of US Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases through Emissions from Land-Use Change,” Science, Vol. 319, No. 5867, 2008, pp. 1238-1240. doi:10.1126/science.1151861
[7]	T. D. Searchinger, S. P. Hamburg, J. Melillo, W. Cham- eides, P. Havlik, D. M. Kammen, G. E. Likens, R. N. Lu- bowski, M. Obersteiner, M. Oppenheimer, G. P. Robertson, W. H. Schlesinger and G. D. Tilman, “Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error,” Science, Vol. 326, No. 5952, 2009, pp. 527-528. doi:10.1126/science.1178797
[8]	J. Fargione, J. Hill, D. Tilman, S. Polasky and P. Hawthorne, “Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt,” Science, Vol. 319, No 5867, 2008, pp. 1235-1238. doi:10.1126/science.1152747
[9]	R. A. Sedjo and B. Sohngen, “Wood as a Major Feedstock for Biofuel Production in the US: Impacts on Forests and International Trade,” Journal of Sustainable Forests, forthcoming, 2012.
[10]	J. F. Muth, “Rational Expectations and the Theory of Price Movements,” In: The New Classical Macroeconomics, Vol. 1: International Library of Critical Writings in Economics, Elgar, Aldershot, 1992, pp. 3-23.
[11]	T. Takayama and G. G. Judge, “Spatial and Temporal Price and Allocation Models,” North Holland Press, Amsterdam, 1971.
[12]	R. A. Sedjo and K. S. Lyon, “The Long-Term Adequacy of World Timber Supply,” RFF Press, Washington DC, 1990, p. 220.
[13]	B. Sohngen, R. Mendelsohn and R. Sedjo, “Forest Manage- ment, Conservation, and Global Timber Markets,” Ameri- can Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 81, No. 1, 1999, pp. 1-13. doi:10.2307/1244446
[14]	D. M. Burton, B. A. McCarl, D. Adams, R. Alig, J. Callaway and S. Winnet, “An Exploratory Study of the Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Southern Forests,” Proceedings of the Southern Forest Economics Workshop, Savannah, 27-29 March 1994.
[15]	D. M. Adams, R. J. Alig, J. M. Callaway, S. M. Winnett and B. A. McCarl, “The Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model (FASOM): Model Structure, Policy and Applications,” Res. Pap PNW-RP-495. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Experiment Station, Portland, 1996.
[16]	R. J. Alig, D. M. Adams, J. M. Callaway, S. M. Winnett and B. A. McCarl, “Assessing Effects of Mitigation Strate- gies for Global Climate Change with an Intertemporal Model of the US Forest and Agriculture Sectors,” Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology—Economics of Carbon Sequestration in Forestry, Vol. 27, 1997, pp. S97-S111.
[17]	D. M. Adams and R. Haynes, “The 1980 Softwood Timber Assessment Market Model: Structure, Projections, and Policy Simulations,” Forest Science, Vol. 22, No. 3, 1980.
[18]	B. Sohngen and R. Sedjo, “A Comparison of Timber Market Models: Static Simulation and Optimal Control Approaches,” Forest Science, Vol. 44, No. 1, 1998, pp. 24-36.

For further details log on website :
http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=22643