HR: 08:45h
AN: B31D-04    [Abstracts]
TI: Economic Analysis of Planting Forests on Rice Lands in Texas: Sequestering Carbon and Avoiding Methane Production
AU: * Kronrad, G D
EM: gdkronrad@sfasu.edu
AF: College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Box 6109, Nacogdoches, TX 75961 United States
AU: Huang, C
B31D-04 AF: College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Box 6109, Nacogdoches, TX 75961 United States
AB: Global climate change is predicted due to increases in greenhouse gasses (i.e. CO₂, CH₄, CFCs, N₂O, O₃) in the atmosphere caused by human activities. The atmospheric concentration of methane (CH₄), which absorbs and retains heat 21 times more effectively than CO₂, has increased. Anaerobic bacterial activity in rice paddies constitutes one of major emission sources of CH₄. The rice fields of Texas, for example, accounted for an annual CH₄ emission of between 1.1 and 1.6 million tons of CO₂ equivalent between 1990 and 2000. Converting marginal rice fields to forests plantations will remove CO₂ from the atmosphere, sequester carbon in the forests and prevent the production of CH₄. Therefore, carbon credits can be claimed for the carbon sequestered and the avoidance of CH₄ production. Analyses were conducted to calculate the amount of carbon sequestered and methane avoided, and the profitability, measured in net present worth (NPW), of managing loblolly pine plantation for 1) timber production only, 2) the dual products of timber products and carbon credits in forests planted on marginal agricultural and unused pastureland and 3) the dual products of timber and carbon storage in forests planted on marginal rice lands. Calculations were performed using three discount rates, three site qualities and five prices for carbon credits. The results indicate that on average quality land, using a discount rate of 8 percent, forests planted on marginal agricultural and unused pastureland earn a NPW of $346 per acre from timber production only; a NPW of $438 per acre from timber and carbon credits (54.4 tons of carbon sequestered), assuming carbon is worth $10 per ton, during one rotation (32 years). The profitability of forest management increases due to the inclusion of carbon credits. The profitability of planting forests on marginal rice fields is even higher, earning a NPW of $566 per acre from timber and carbon credits (54.4 tons of C sequestered and 33.3 tons of C emission avoided).
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 1631 Land/atmosphere interactions (1218, 1843, 3322)
DE: 1699 General or miscellaneous
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005