wvbiomass.org

• ~ 85 million tons of CO₂ released from power plants in WV per year (US Energy Information Administration)
  
• During growth forests sequester about 4 tonnes C/ha/year (range 3.5-10 tons/ha)
• Converting to CO₂ :1 tonnes C ≈3.7 units CO₂ = 6 tonnes CO₂/acre/year
  
• Total uptake ~ 72 million tonnes CO₂
  

We must understand that these uptake numbers would be under a best case scenario – and 4 tonnes C/ha/year is a number that could be used in areas where forests are just being established – these forests sequester more CO₂ than older forests (Range can be 3.5 -10 tonnes/ha in a afforestation type scenario).

To get a better understanding of the potential for CO₂ sequestration by WV forests, the following spreadsheet can be used (link).  When leaving the default parameters in place, which are our best estimates, the potential CO₂ sequestration potential for WV forests becomes approximately 20 million tonnes of CO₂ per year.  In the latest year estimates are available, WV emitted 116.4 millon tons of CO₂ from the commerical, industrial, residential, transportation and electric power sectors (from: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/state_energyco2inv.html).

CO₂ emmisions from fossil fuel combustion

Using these emmission estimates, we can assume that WV's forests sequestered 24% of the CO₂ produced through electrical generation at State power plants.  We can further refine this number by estimating the actual amount of electricity that is generated for WV's consumption.  Using United States Energy Information Administration data, WV produces 983 Trillion BTUs of energy from coal.  Over 90% of this usage is for electrical power generation.  Of this, WV has a negative interstate flow (export) of 563 trillion BTU, which helps us estimate WV's consumption for power generation at 420 trillion BTU.  Thus, WV consumes approximately 40% of the power it generates.




Therefore, of the 85 million tonnes of CO₂ produced from power plants in WV, 34 million tonnes can be attributed to the power that is consumed in the state.  Therefore,
59% of the CO₂ emmitted in WV from in-state power consumption is sequestered by WV's 12 million acres of forestland.

Application

In reality, the approximation of CO₂ sequestration will always be “fuzzy” because of the number of parameters that need to be estimated.  Likewise, the standard errors associated with these parameter estimates can be large. The calculation of theoretical CO₂ sequestration by WV forests must be taken in context and we should understand that even though there is significant potential for CO₂ offesets, only the uptake that is over and above what is happening now can be accounted for when looking at carbon offset programs.

For a better example of "over and above" see the following figure:


In this scenario, "Business as Usual" represents the status quo management of WV Forests, whereas "New Management Regime" represents a new management protocol where carbon flux is accounted for as part of the system.  Under CO₂ trading scenarios, the average CO₂ flux is the most important metric to consider.  It is represented in this figure by the AVG BAU (average CO₂ uptake for Business as Usual) and AVG NMR (average CO₂ uptake for a New Management Regime).  It is important to understand that active carbon management projects will not gain credit for the CO₂ uptake represented by the increase in AVG NMR over a baseline of zero.  Carbon management projects will only be able to receive credit for the additionality in Carbon stores.  This is represented by the AVG NMR - AVG BAU.  Under a new regime, one must consider carbon flux as being as important as management for traditional wood products.  Increasing the uptake of carbon in a forest management project must take into account the carbon losses due to natural mortality and decay as well as harvesting for forest products.  One can maximize the carbon uptake potential of a forest by actively managing the full system.  This will include temporal and spatial changes in harvest intensity, management of natural mortality agents, increasing the vigor and growth of residual stands, and managing the carbon losses during harvests.



Recent research has looked at more efficient means of geologically sequestering the CO₂ being produced.  Currently, coal-fired power plants are at most 30% efficient – approximately 30% of the BTUs from coal actually are used to create power.  Geologic sequestration projects reduce this efficiency by another 5-7% at a tremendous cost.  Carbon forestry projects would be a much more efficient means of sequestering additional CO₂ – from the context of both project cost and job creation.  By entering into new forms of management, wood products companies can continue to provide fiber for traditional wood products, while at the same time increase terrestrial carbon storage within West Virginia’s forests.   The development of a "New Management Regime" that focuses on both carbon and traditional wood products will necessitate an emphasis on strategic planning from a land use perspective.  Potential impacts include longer rotations, the development of additional long-lived wood products markets, and the incorporation of management strategies to simultaneously increase CO₂ uptake and limit forest carbon losses.  Considerable research is needed to understand the complexity of interactions that must be considered when managing forest ecosystems concurrently for both wood fiber and climatic benefits.