SOIL
CARBON AND CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS
From
Consortium for Agricultural Soils
Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases (CASMGS)
http://soilcarboncenter.k-state.edu
Charles W. Rice, K-State Department of
Agronomy, National CASMGS Director
(785) 532-7217 cwrice@ksu.edu
Scott Staggenborg, K-State Department of
Agronomy (785) 532-7214 sstaggen@ksu.edu
Steve Watson, CASMGS Communications (785)
532-7105 swatson@ksu.edu
May 17, 2007
No. 56
National:
* New Guide to
Greenhouse Gas Offsets Released by
* Thirty-One States Join to
Create
* Carbon Sequestration Atlas
of the
International:
* IPCC: We have the means to
fight climate change
Science:
* The GEFSOC Soil Carbon Modeling
System
**********
New Guide To
Greenhouse Gas Offsets
Released By
A new “how-to” manual for
reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions through land-use sequestration in
farmlands and forests, and turning those reductions into verifiable credits for
trading in carbon markets, is about to be released.
Duke University Press will
publish Harnessing Farms and Forests in
the Low-Carbon Economy: How to Create and Verify Greenhouse Gas Offsets, a
technical guide for farmers, foresters, traders and investors, in June. A
preview of the guide is available online at http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/ghgoffsetsguide/
Duke’s Nicholas Institute
for Environmental Policy Solutions developed the guide in collaboration with
the nonprofit advocacy group Environmental Defense, and scientists from Kansas
State University, Texas A&M University, Colorado State University, Rice
University, Princeton University, and Brown University, as well as other
experts.
The
guide explains how farmers and foresters
can convert their land’s carbon dioxide storage capacity into
revenue-generating “offsets” that can be bought and sold in future carbon markets.
Providing recommendations for specific land-use practices and formulas for
calculating sequestered carbon, the book provides technical information needed
by quantifiers, verifiers, and traders of the offset credits. One section of
the guide also provides specific financial information for traders and
investors.
Despite the absence of a
mandatory nationwide cap on greenhouse gas emissions, a
-- Steve Watson, CASMGS
Communications
**********
Thirty-One States Join to Create
Thirty-one states,
representing over 70 percent of the
The participating states see the creation of the Climate Registry, which is based on voluntary reporting
of statewide emissions, as a necessary first step toward developing mandatory,
federal regulations on global warming-causing emissions.
The list of founding member states and tribes thus far includes the states of
The Registry is a tool to measure, track, verify and publicly report GHG
emissions accurately, transparently and consistently across borders and
industry sectors. The Registry's proponents say it is a critical first step in
developing robust programs to reduce GHG emissions.
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=35043
--
GreenBiz, May 9, 2007
**********
Carbon Sequestration Atlas
of the United States and
The US Department of
Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has released the
first “Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the
To download the Atlas or
sections of the Atlas see: http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/carbon_seq/atlas/index.html
**********
IPCC: We have the means
to fight climate change
The world has the
technological and financial means to fight climate change, but must act now to
make a difference. This is the conclusion of the latest report from the UN
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), launched in
The report proposes multiple
strategies to prevent the potentially catastrophic consequences of climate
change at a reasonable cost. The report states that greenhouse gas emissions
must start declining by 2015 if the increase in global average temperature is
to be capped at 2–2.4 degrees Celsius.
It says stable emission
levels of 445–535 parts per million (ppm) can be achieved with just a three percent
reduction in global gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 25 years, or
less than 0.12 per cent annually. In the long term, 2050 onward, stabilizing
emissions between 445–710 ppm would require a reduction of 5.5 per cent in the
world's GDP.
"We are talking about
the reduction of the world's GDP, but there will be benefits [in addition to
climate change mitigation] such as health benefits from reducing air pollution,
improvement of energy security," said Bert Metz, co-chairman of the IPCC's
Mitigation Working Group, who produced the report.
The report recommends
several measures, such as switching to renewable energy and biofuels, taxing
fossil fuels, incentives for improving the energy efficiency of transportation,
buildings and industry, as well as changes to agricultural and forestry
practices.
The report is the third
released by the IPCC this year. A fourth is due in November.
http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MjQ1MTk
-- SciDev.Net,
May 4, 2007
**********
The GEFSOC soil carbon
modeling system
The GEFSOC soil carbon
modeling system was built to provide interdisciplinary teams of scientists,
natural resource managers and policy analysts (who have the appropriate
computing skills) with the necessary tools to conduct regional-scale soil
carbon (C) inventories. It allows users to assess the effects of land use
change on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, soil fertility and the potential
for soil carbon sequestration.
The tool was developed in
conjunction with case-studies of land use and management impacts on SOC in
The tool incorporates three
widely used models for estimating soil carbon dynamics: (1) the Century
ecosystem model; (2) the RothC soil carbon decomposition model; and (3) the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) method for assessing soil C at
regional scales. The tool interacts with a Soil and Terrain Digital Database
(SOTER) built for the specific country or region the user intends to model. A demonstration
of the tool and results from an assessment of land use change in a sample
region of
M. Easter, K. Paustian, K.
Killian, S. Williams, T. Feng, R. Al-Adamat, N.H. Batjes, M. Bernoux, T.
Bhattacharyya, C.C. Cerri, C.E.P. Cerri, K. Coleman, P. Falloon, C. Feller, P.
Gicheru, P. Kamoni, E. Milne, D.K. Pal, D.S. Powlson, Z. Rawajfih, M. Sessay
and S. Wokabi, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Available
online, doi:10.1016/j.agee.2007.01.004
, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6T3Y-4N2DRBJ-1/2/7f151403695b84df48ef38bf63b97b62.
**********
MEETINGS OF INTEREST
May 21-23, 2007
Carbon Finance and
Investment
More details at: http://www.infocastinc.com/carbon.html
**********
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