Short rotation woody crops for US energy production: The potential for reducing national carbon dioxide emissions

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5427358

Graham, R L

There are three strategies for using trees to reduce carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) buildup in the atmosphere. First, new forest (or plantations) can be created and existing forest (or plantations) managed to remove CO{sub 2} from the atmosphere and store it as fixed carbon. Second, trees can be strategically planted in urban areas to provide shade and to cool the air thereby reducing energy consumption for air-conditioning and, consequently, fossil fuel emissions of CO{sub 2}. Third, wood can be used as an energy feedstock to displace fossil fuels. Because the carbon released to the atmosphere when biomass energy feedstock is used originated from the atmosphere, the net carbon emission from using biomass-derived energy is presumably low if the used biomass is constantly being replaced with an equal amount of new biomass. This last caveat is quite important, because using biomass for fuel without accompanying regrowth represents a significant net CO{sub 2} emission to the atmosphere. The first strategy, increasing the amount of carbon stored in trees or wood, is a midterm solution as limits exist on the area of land that could be dedicated to forests and on the carbon density (tons carbon stored per acre) of that forest. The second and third strategies are long-term solutions because the annual carbon savings from reducing fossil fuel consumption can be maintained indefinitely. 1 ref., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5427358
• Report Number(s): CONF-9106271-1; ON: DE91017861
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
090700* -- Biomass Fuels-- Resources-- (1990-)
095000 -- Biomass Fuels-- Environmental Aspects-- (1990-)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AGRICULTURE
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
BIOCONVERSION
BIOMASS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON CYCLE
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CONTROL
COPPICES
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FORESTRY
FORESTS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
INDUSTRY
LAND USE
MITIGATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION CONTROL
PRODUCTIVITY
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RENEWABLE RESOURCES
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT
RESOURCES
SILVICULTURE
WOOD FUELS