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Carbon sinks: Issues, markets, policy
September 29, 2008With reducing carbon emissions on the national agenda, a group of expert panelists will discuss methods, markets, testing and policy issues on how carbon sinks or carbon sequestration may be used to reduce atmospheric CO2.
Carbon sequestration is the process through which carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere is absorbed by trees, plants and crops through photosynthesis, and stored as carbon in biomass (tree trunks, branches, foliage and roots) and soils. The term "sinks" is also used to refer to forests, croplands, and grazing lands, and their ability to sequester carbon. Agriculture and forestry activities can also release CO2 to the atmosphere. So, a carbon sink occurs when carbon sequestration is greater than carbon releases over some time period.
The keynote symposium, "Carbon Sequestration: Methods, Markets and Policy," includes presentations by six experts. The symposium is being held on Wednesday, 8 Oct from 3:00 to 5:10 pm in the General Assembly Theater Hall C of the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX, as part of the 2008 Joint Annual Meeting of five scientific societies.
According to a National Academy of Sciences 2001 report, "Greenhouse gases are accumulating in the Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise."
In addition to temperature, human-induced climate change may also affect growing seasons, precipitation and the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as fire. These changes can influence forests, farming and the health of ecosystems, and thus carbon sequestration.
Speakers at this session will environmental controls on the soil carbon cycle; forest carbon sequestration; testing commercial-scale geologic carbon sequestration; issues with ocean carbon sequestration; and legal and regulatory challenges facing carbon sequestration:
* Ronald Amundson will discuss how nearly 20% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions are from land-use changes, but reducing this loss requires understanding the natural and management-specific impacts on soil carbon. The main control on the soil carbon cycle is climate. Radiocarbon measurements have shown that decomposition accelerates with increasing temperature and that under projected warming scenarios soils should release CO2 and provide a positive feedback to warming.
* Richard Birdsey will discuss how U.S. forests currently offset about 15% of emissions of CO2 from fossil fuels and how this baseline rate could be doubled or more through activities including avoided deforestation, afforestation, improved forest management, and substitution of wood for other materials.
* Brian McPherson will discuss a project designing and deploying several pilot tests to validate the most promising CO2 sequestration technologies and infrastructure concepts, including a major deep saline sequestration demonstration.
* Haroon Kheshgi will discuss how a range of ocean carbon sequestration concepts are compared to other options including other forms of carbon sequestration.
* Putting aside the technical and engineering aspects of carbon capture and sequestration, Allison D. Wood will discuss how legal and policy issues need to be addressed with regard to the issue.
* The symposium will be moderated by Jerry Hatfield, USDA-Agricultural Research Service and Past-President, American Society of Agronomy.
American Society of Agronomy
According to a National Academy of Sciences 2001 report, "Greenhouse gases are accumulating in the Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise."
In addition to temperature, human-induced climate change may also affect growing seasons, precipitation and the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as fire. These changes can influence forests, farming and the health of ecosystems, and thus carbon sequestration.
Speakers at this session will environmental controls on the soil carbon cycle; forest carbon sequestration; testing commercial-scale geologic carbon sequestration; issues with ocean carbon sequestration; and legal and regulatory challenges facing carbon sequestration:
* Ronald Amundson will discuss how nearly 20% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions are from land-use changes, but reducing this loss requires understanding the natural and management-specific impacts on soil carbon. The main control on the soil carbon cycle is climate. Radiocarbon measurements have shown that decomposition accelerates with increasing temperature and that under projected warming scenarios soils should release CO2 and provide a positive feedback to warming.
* Richard Birdsey will discuss how U.S. forests currently offset about 15% of emissions of CO2 from fossil fuels and how this baseline rate could be doubled or more through activities including avoided deforestation, afforestation, improved forest management, and substitution of wood for other materials.
* Brian McPherson will discuss a project designing and deploying several pilot tests to validate the most promising CO2 sequestration technologies and infrastructure concepts, including a major deep saline sequestration demonstration.
* Haroon Kheshgi will discuss how a range of ocean carbon sequestration concepts are compared to other options including other forms of carbon sequestration.
* Putting aside the technical and engineering aspects of carbon capture and sequestration, Allison D. Wood will discuss how legal and policy issues need to be addressed with regard to the issue.
* The symposium will be moderated by Jerry Hatfield, USDA-Agricultural Research Service and Past-President, American Society of Agronomy.
American Society of Agronomy
Carbon Sequestration Current Events and Carbon Sequestration News RSSU.N. Climate Change Conference considers ancient soil replenishment technique in battle against global warming
Former inhabitants of the Amazon Basin enriched their fields with charred organic materials-biochar-and transformed one of the earth's most infertile soils into one of the most productive.
Wind, water and sun beat biofuels, nuclear and coal for clean energy, Stanford researcher says
The best ways to improve energy security, mitigate global warming and reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution are blowing in the wind and rippling in the water, not growing on prairies or glowing inside nuclear power plants, says Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford.
Managing Carbon Loss
As the United States continues to develop alternative energy methods and push towards energy independence, cellulosic-based ethanol has emerged as one of the most commercially viable technologies.
Forest peoples' rights key to reducing emissions from deforestation
Unless based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and forest communities, efforts by rich countries to combat climate change by funding reductions in deforestation in developing countries will fail, and could even unleash a devastating wave of forest loss, cultural destruction and civil conflict, warned a leading group of forestry and development experts meeting in Oslo this week.
Carnegie Mellon researcher says China's export trade impacts climate
Carnegie Mellon University's Christopher L. Weber argues that China's new title as the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter is at least partly due to consumption of Chinese goods in the West.
Incentives for carbon sequestration may not protect species
Paying rural landowners in Oregon's Willamette Basin to protect at-risk animals won't necessarily mean that their newly conserved trees and plants will absorb more carbon from the atmosphere and vice versa, a new study has found.
Finding the Real Potential of No-Till Farming for Sequestering Carbon
The potential of no-tillage (NT) soils for increasing the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool must be critically and objectively assessed. Most of the previous studies about SOC accrual in NT soils have primarily focused on the surface layer (<20-cm soil depth), and not for the whole soil profile. The lack of adequate data on the SOC profile is a hindrance to conclusively ascertain the effects of NT farming on SOC sequestration and off-setting CO2 emissions.
Leading Engineers and Scientists Identify Advances That Could Improve Quality of Life Around the World
A diverse committee of experts from around the world, convened at the request of the National Science Foundation (NSF), announced 14 grand challenges for engineering in the 21st century that, if met, would improve how we live.
Mechanisms of plant-fungi symbiosis characterized by DOE Joint Genome Institute
Plants gained their ancestral toehold on dry land with considerable help from their fungal friends. Now, millennia later, that partnership is being exploited as a strategy to bolster biomass production for next generation biofuels.
Gene That Controls Ozone Resistance of Plants Could Lead to Drought-Resistant Crops
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego, working with collaborators at the University of Helsinki in Finland and two other European institutions, have elucidated the mechanism of a plant gene that controls the amount of atmospheric ozone entering a plant's leaves.
More Carbon Sequestration Current Events and Carbon Sequestration News Articles
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 | Carbon Capture and Sequestration Integrating Technology, Monitoring, Regulation This book is the first systematic presentation of the technical, legal, and economic forces that must coalesce to deploy carbon dioxide capture and geologic sequestration as a viable technology within a larger carbon dioxide reduction strategy. It synthesizes key engineering data and explains the technological, regulatory, and legal conditions that must be in place for carbon... |
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 | Carbon Sequestration in Soils of Latin America The problem of quickly mounting CO2 emissions in the fast-developing Latin American region was addressed in a symposium held in Piracicaba, Brazil, in June 2004. "Carbon Sequestration in Soils of Latin America" presents the latest available knowledge in soil C sequestration and improved land and soil management which can also lead to other positive effects, such as greater fertility of soil and... |
 | 2009 Complete Guide to Carbon Sequestration Research, Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies to Fight Global Warming and Control Greenhouse Gases, Government Research Programs (CD-ROM) by U.S. Government This comprehensive electronic book on CD-ROM provides an up-to-date review of all aspects of carbon sequestration, carbon capture and storage technologies from the Federal Government! To retain fossil fuels as a viable world energy source, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies must play a central role. By cost-effectively capturing CO2 before it is emitted to the atmosphere and then... |
 | Climate Change and Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration in Central Asia Bringing together current knowledge of terrestrial C sequestration in Central Asia, this book covers biophysical environments, water resources, sustainable agriculture, soil degradation, the effects of irrigation schemes on secondary salinization, soil management and its relationship to carbon dynamics; the relationship between forest management and carbon dynamics, economic analyses of land use... |
 | Carbon Sequestration In Tropical Grassland Ecosystems The increasing scientific consensus on global warming, together with the precautionary principle and the fear of non-linear climate transitions is leading to increasing action to mitigate global warming. To help mitigate global warming, carbon storage by forests is often mentioned as the only or the best way to reduce the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. This book presents evidence that... |
| The Future of Fossil Fuels: Geological and Terrestrial Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide: Joint Oversight Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Energy by United States | |
 | Storing Carbon in Agricultural Soils: A Multi-Purpose Environmental Strategy Soil carbon sequestration can play a strategic role in controlling the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere and thereby help mitigate climatic change. There are scientific opportunities to increase the capacity of soils to store carbon and remove it from circulation for longer periods of time. The vast areas of degraded and desertified lands throughout the world offer great potential for the ... |
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