SOIL CARBON AND CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS

From Kansas State University's:

Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases (CASMGS)

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/ctec

Charles W. Rice, K-State Soil Microbiology, National CASMGS Coordinator (785) 532-7217 cwrice@ksu.edu

Kent McMay, K-State Soil and Water Conservation Specialist (785) 532-5776 kmcvay@ksu.edu

Steve L. Watson, CASMGS Communications (785) 532-7105 swatson@oznet.ksu.edu

June 25, 2003

No. 22

This week's issue:

Kansas:

* Long-Term Tillage and Rotation Study: Ashland Bottoms, K-State

National:

* U.S., EU To Seek Carbon Sinks To Fight Climate Change

International:

* “Flatulence Tax” Stirs Up New Zealand Producers

* International Efforts Heating Up On Carbon Credit Trading

* EU Lawmakers Agree On Climate Emissions Trading Scheme

* Japan To Set Up Market For Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading

* Canada Expected to Approve Energy Efficiency Funds

**********

long-term tillage and rotation study:

ashland bottoms, k-state

Introduction: Soil tillage generally leads to an overall reduction in soil organic matter. When soil is aerated through the action of tillage, organic carbon is oxidized. Also, tillage increases the mineralization of organic matter by soil microbes. In addition to reducing soil organic carbon levels,

tillage also makes the soil more vulnerable to wind and water erosion and causes a loss of soil moisture. Conservation tillage is more beneficial to the soil than conventional tillage. Conservation tillage increases soil organic matter levels, improves soil structure (aggregation), increases infiltration capacity, and reduces evapotranspiration. The use of crop rotations has been shown to increase yields, which in turn increases residue return to the soil. When crop rotations are used and cropping intensity is increased by reducing fallow periods, productivity is generally increased and soil organic carbon levels are increased. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of tillage and crop rotation on soil organic C and N pools and crop yields on a silt loam soil in eastern Kansas. Geoff Doyle, Chuck Rice, and Dallas Peterson, of the K-State Agronomy Department, conducted this research.

Treatments: The plots were established in 1974.

Tillage: No-till, Reduced-tillage, Conventional tillage

Crop rotation: Wheat/Soybean; Continuous Wheat; Sorghum/Soybean; Continuous Sorghum; Continuous Soybean

Summary of results:

* No-till resulted in the highest levels of total soil carbon at the 0-6 inch depth.

* As tillage was reduced, soil carbon levels increased across all rotations.

* Rotations that included wheat resulted in the greatest amount of total soil carbon.

* Sorghum produced more residue and added more carbon to the soil than soybeans.

* Sorghum and soybean yields were highest with no-till.

* Wheat yields were unaffected by tillage when in rotation with soybeans, but were highest with conventional tillage and reduced tillage when in continuous wheat.

* No-till continuous sorghum sequestered an average of 98 kg C per hectare per year in this soil.

The actual results are as follows.

1. Effect of Tillage on Total Soil Carbon (tons/acre to 6-inch depth)

No-till: 12.4 Tons C/acre

Reduced-till: 11.8 Tons C/acre

Conventional-till: 11.3 Tons C/acre

2. Effect of Rotation on Total Soil Carbon (tons/acre to 6-inch depth)

Wheat/soybean: 13.2 Tons C/acre

Continuous wheat: 12.9 Tons C/acre

Soybean/Sorghum: 11.7 Tons C/acre

Continuous sorghum: 11.4 Tons C/acre

Continuous soybeans: 9.9 Tons C/acre

3. Effect of Tillage on Soybean Yield (bu/a)

No-till: 42 bu/a

Reduced-till: 38 bu/a

Conventional-till: 36 bu/a

4. Effect of Tillage on Wheat Yield (bu/a)

No-till: 53 bu/a

Reduced-till: 58 bu/a

Conventional-till: 57 bu/a

5. Effect of Tillage on Sorghum Yield (bu/a)

No-till: 88 bu/a

Reduced-till: 77 bu/a

Conventional-till: 84 bu/a

6. Effect of Previous Crop on Soybean Yield (bu/a)

Previous crop was soybean: 31 bu/a

Previous crop was wheat: 44 bu/a

Previous crop was sorghum: 41 bu/a

7. Effect of Previous Crop on Wheat Yield (bu/a)

Previous crop was soybean: 58 bu/a

Previous crop was wheat: 55 bu/a

8. Effect of Previous Crop on Sorghum Yield (bu/a)

Previous crop was soybean: 90 bu/a

Previous crop was sorghum: 76 bu/a

-- Steve Watson swatson@oznet.ksu.edu

**********

U.S., EU to Seek Carbon Sinks

to Fight Climate change

United States will join forces with the European Union and other countries this week to develop a new technique to fight global warming -- pumping carbon dioxide underground, EU sources said recently.

EU Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio will sign an international charter with the United States and other countries including Brazil, Canada, Russia and China creating a "carbon sequestration leadership forum."

In a similar move earlier this month the EU and the United States agreed to collaborate on researching hydrogen power, which could have less environmental impact than other fuels.

Officials said participation in the new effort by both the EU and the U.S. represents a reconciliation between the two on climate change concerns following the U.S.' decision not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

-- Reuters News Service, June 23, 2003

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“Flatulence Tax” Stirs Up

New Zealand Producers

Federated Farmers of New Zealand (FFNZ) recently responded to the New Zealand government's plan to introduce a new livestock tax to help fund research into the effects of methane emitted from cattle and sheep as "yet another example of the government's desire to act in the wider public interest but expecting rural New Zealand to pay for its largesse."

Although the government contends that such emissions "account for more than half of the country's greenhouse gases [(GHGs)]," FFNZ argues that any effort aimed at helping reduce GHGs should be the responsibility of all taxpaying citizens.

"...[T]he government is telling us to pay for research to reduce emissions with limited likelihood of beneficial impact and which no one else in the world is bothering with," said Federated Farmers of New Zealand president Tom Lambie. "The government needs to front up to the commitments it agreed to on behalf of all New Zealanders by funding this research from the consolidated fund."

For more information, see: http://www.fedfarm.org.nz

**********

International Efforts Heating

Up On Carbon Credit Trading

Carbon credit trading is developing rapidly in many countries around the world. Carbon credit trading is furthest along in the U.K., Germany, and the European Union. Japan is also developing an emissions trading system. Canada is working on such a system, and is also searching hard now for ways to meet its emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. Canada has ratified Kyoto, although the treaty cannot yet be enforced because it has not yet been ratified by enough industrialized countries.

International developments in carbon credit trading and other greenhouse gas mitigation efforts are now occurring rapidly, on a weekly basis. The three articles below help explain some of what is currently going on. In future issues of this newsletter, look to the “International” section to provide ongoing updates from around the world as well as the “Kansas” and “National” sections for research and policy decisions closer to home.

This newsletter will keep you informed by including a wide range of news stories and putting seemingly divergent events into the proper overall context.

-- Steve Watson <swatson@oznet.ksu.edu>

**********

EU Lawmakers Agree ON Climate Emissions

Trading Scheme

European Union lawmakers agreed to a major law to fight against climate change recently -- a cap on industry's greenhouse gas emissions and the creation of the world's first international emissions trading market.

If the bill is endorsed by the European Parliament in a vote on July 2 and then rubber stamped by EU ministers, many firms will from January 2005 need special permits to emit carbon dioxide (CO2), EU parliament members said. The emissions trading directive is the centerpiece of the EU's efforts to reach its target under the United Nations Kyoto Protocol on climate change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by eight percent of 1990 levels by between 2008 and 2012.

The scheme is supposed to allow market forces to determine the price of reducing CO2, the main gas blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere, the "greenhouse effect" which many scientists say could cause disastrous changes to the world's climate.

The industries affected -- including oil refineries, steel, cement, ceramics, glass and paper -- will feel the pinch next March when EU governments must say how they will allocate the CO2 allowances firms will need to operate from 2005.

The allowances will have a monetary value because companies that reduce their emissions will be able to sell excess credits to other firms that can not reach their CO2 caps.

Although the emissions trading market will initially be restricted to industries in the EU, firms may later be able to buy CO2 credits from outside the block from other Kyoto Protocol countries.

Under the final version of the law, factories might be allowed to opt out of the scheme if they can show they are making the equivalent effort to reduce greenhouse gases.

This opt-out is likely to be used by Britain, which already has a national emissions trading scheme in place, and by Germany, where industry has long-running voluntary agreements with the government to reduce greenhouse gases.

Reuters News Service, June 25, 2003

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japan to set up market for

greenhouse gas emissions TRADING

Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper recently reported that the Japanese government plans to launch a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trading scheme (ETS) next year.

The newspaper said GHG credit exchanges under the ETS will be performed via the Internet, with the majority of the credits purchased by utilities and petrochemical companies. Officials noted that credit sellers are expected to be trading houses that purchase GHG rights from foreign countries.

MOE officials predicted that trading on the ETS could reach as high as 2.6 trillion yen (about $22 billion) by 2010.

The aim is to efficiently reduce domestic emissions of greenhouse gases to meet the requirements of the Kyoto protocol, which is expected to come into force in the near future, the newspaper said.

Once the protocol comes into effect, Japan will be required to trim emissions of such gases in 2008 to a level 6.0 pct below what they were in 1990. To meet the goal, the government is set to assign gas reduction quotas to major companies, it said.

-- AFX-Asia, June 22, 2003

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Canada Expected to Approve

Energy Efficiency Funds

Canadian officials recently reported that the federal government is soon expected to approve a $1-billion plan aimed at helping the country meet its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals under the Kyoto Protocol.

According to officials, the proposed plan includes $70 million in funding for a rebate program for homeowners making energy-efficient retrofits to their houses, as well as $44 million in incentives to retrofit commercial buildings and $30 million to encourage the environmentally friendly design of new buildings.

Additionally, officials said the plan would include a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign designed to foster public participation in GHG reduction efforts, such as limiting personal vehicle use.

"If you're going to get society to start doing these things, it's going to require big advertising to try to change people's minds," noted one official.

Officials said other measures expected to receive funding include reforestation initiatives and the advancement of alternative fuels and fuel cells.

-- Toronto Star, June 17, 2003

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MEETINGS OF INTEREST

Note: All dates are 2003 unless otherwise noted.

August 19

The Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting, Verification and Certification of GHG Emissions: Energy-Efficiency Projects Workshop

Seattle, Washington.

For information, see: http://www.iepec.org/workshop_vine.htm

October 16-17

CASMGS Carbon Measuring and Management Forum

Manhattan, Kansas

For more information, contact Scott Staggenborg at (785) 532-5833

Send comments or items for the newsletter to Steve Watson at:

<swatson@oznet.ksu.edu>

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