Carbon Cycles and Sinks Network » Critical Reports

Forest talks at a standstill as Copenhagen ends without an agreement-Forest Watch Report

Corinna Byrne — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:06:32 +0000

The Forest Watch report on Copenhagen can be viewed here.

The breakdown and controversial ending of the Copenhagen climate talks was predictable from the outset in a conference which was marked by secret texts, closed door meetings and walk-outs. Negotiations were halted several times over the rumoured plans to introduce a ‘Danish text’ which was outside of, and did not build upon, the official negotiation process of the ad-hoc working groups of the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and long-term cooperative action (AWG-LCA). The Danish Presidency of the conference led to further confusion and increased levels of hostility, due to an overall lack of both clarity on the process and consultation with countries. In the end, the most cited outcome of the Conference, the Copenhagen Accord,¹ was a document drawn up in the final days by a select group of countries, and only ‘noted’ by the Conference of the Parties to the UN climate convention (COP) due to the lack of consensus to adopt it as a UN document. The Accord was strongly rejected by several parties, including Tuvalu, Bolivia, Sudan and Saudi Arabia, both for the lack of substance and the undemocratic nature in which it was drawn up. This raises concerns about the long term implications for multi-lateral negotiations under the UN process.

Nitrous oxide is now top ozone-layer damaging emission

Corinna Byrne — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:30:46 +0000

According to new research, emissions of anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N₂O) are now causing more damage to the ozone layer than those of any controlled ozone depleting substance and this is projected to remain the case for the rest of this century. The study suggests that limiting N₂O emissions could help both the recovery of the ozone layer and tackle climate change.

Many ozone-depleting substances (ODS) have been phased out as a result of the Montreal Protocol and are regulated by EU legislation. N₂O is emitted from natural and anthropogenic sources, the latter including as a byproduct of agricultural fertiliser use and from fossil fuel combustion. Its role in ozone depletion has been known for some years and it is similar to CFCs in that it is stable when it is near the earth’s surface but releases ozone-destroying active chemicals when transported into the stratosphere (between 10 and 50km from the surface). However, N₂O is not defined as an ODS under the Montreal Protocol and, although it is a greenhouse gas (GHG) included in the basket of gases under the Kyoto Protocol, its emissions remain unregulated.

The study was the first to calculate the ozone-depleting potential (ODP) of N₂O. Current global emissions of anthropogenic N₂O are approximately 10 million metric tonnes per year, in comparison with annual emissions of one million metric tonnes of CFCs at the peak of their production in the 1980s.

These emissions of N₂O also have a significant impact on the climate. Of all the non-CO₂ GHGs included under the Kyoto Protocol, N₂O emissions have the second most powerful impact on the climate (after methane). Ozone plays a role in breaking down methane so N2O emissions continue to increase, this will lead to increase levels of methane in the atmosphere as there is less ozone around to break it down.

Click here for link to full article from Science Mag

Soil carbon sequestration in US rangelands

Corinna Byrne — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:21:48 +0000

A new report commissioned by Environmental Defense Fund is available on the issues associated with developing a soil carbon sequestration emissions reductions protocol for rangelands. With a U.S. focus, this discussion is also relevant to other regions. The report can be viewed here.

Rangelands are non-intensively-managed systems including grasslands, savanna, steppe and scrubland. Rangelands cover 31% of the U.S. and a similar proportion in other regions. The main activity focus on rangelands is grazing livestock, on which 70% of the world’s poorest people depend.

U.S. grazing lands have the potential to remove the equivalent of 3.3% of national CO2 emissions every year for 30 years, through a change to more sustainable practices. This mitigation potential will be comparable for regions with a similar proportion of rangelands and grazing lands, and/or lower GHG emissions than the U.S.

When money grows on trees

Corinna Byrne — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:43:22 +0000

Nature Reports Climate Change 13 August 2009 by Mark Schrope

Protecting forests offers a quick and cost-effective way of reducing emissions, but agreeing a means to do so won’t be easy.

Click here for a good general commentary on the climate negotiations from a forest perspective. REDD Plus that would deal with deforestation and degradation as well as efforts to protect and enhance existing forest carbon stocks is also detailed.

Forests may become carbon sources as climate change kicks in

Corinna Byrne — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:51:12 +0000

Forests form a critical ‘sink’ for greenhouse gases (GHGs) but they are under threat from climate change. A recent international report investigates the links between forests and climate change, the past and future impacts on forest ecosystems and the policy options for adaptation.

Forests cover around a third of EU land and are highly important for many reasons, including carbon regulation. Although deforestation is responsible for approximately one quarter of global GHG emissions, forests globally capture and store a large amount of carbon. Climate change has already affected forest ecosystems and will continue to jeopardise their health and stability.Under extreme scenarios, it is predicted that the carbon regulating services of forests will be impaired to the extent that forests would cease to be a sink if global warming rises 2.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

Several projections indicate significant risks that current carbon regulating services will be entirely lost, as land ecosystems turn into a net source of carbon beyond a global warming of 2.5°C (upper stable scenarios and beyond) or more relative to preindustrial levels. Moreover, since forests also release large quantities of carbon if deforested or impacted by other degrading stressors, they exacerbate climate change further.

To elaborate on the policy implications of the findings of the assessment, a policy brief has been prepared.

Biomass – carbon sink or carbon sinner?

Corinna Byrne — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:24:21 +0000

A new report highlights how biomass energy could play a key role in delivering the UK’s greenhouse gas emission targets but only if action is taken to ensure it is genuinely low carbon

Biomass – carbon sink or carbon sinner?, a report published by the Environment Agency finds that using energy crops or waste materials as fuel for generating electricity and heat could play an important role in meeting the UK’s renewable energy and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, but only if good practice is followed. The accompanying technical report is also available.

Best practice can deliver up to 98% less emissions than using coal but worst practice can result in more greenhouse gas emissions overall than using gas. The report estimates that greenhouse gas emissions of over three million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year could be saved by 2020 if good practice is followed.

To deliver these emissions reductions, the Environment Agency is urging Government to ensure all generators publicly report the greenhouse gas emissions from producing, transporting and using biomass fuels and be ready to set minimum standards if required. It is also urging the Government to provide greater incentives for combined heat and power than for electricity only plant, through the proposed renewable heat incentive.

Overall the best performing biomass schemes in terms of greenhouse gas emissions are those that deliver combined heat and power rather than just electricity, which is the current trend. They use wastes or energy crops that have not been transported too far. The worst performing schemes are those where energy crops are grown on what was previously grassland using a lot of nitrogen fertilisers. They expend energy in processing the biomass, for example into fuel pellets, and the fuel is transported thousands of miles and burned to generate electricity only.

CO2 rise in atmosphere accelerates in 2008

Corinna Byrne — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:49:00 +0000

By Gerard Wynn. Wed Feb 25, 2009. London (Reuters)

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) increases in the amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere accelerated last year.

The new data may dampen hopes that a slowdown in industrial output and carbon emissions, which started at the end of last year, will temporarily deflect climate change.

Recession means that developed nations’ greenhouse gas emissions will fall by about 2 percent this year, some analysts estimate, although that effect could be much greater if the world slipped into a wider slump or depression.

It is thought that the acceleration was mostly due to increases in emissions, but may also support an unproven theory that oceans, which currently mop up a large part of excess manmade carbon emissions, were becoming saturated.

Link to full article

Smart Choices for Biofuels

Corinna Byrne — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:22:41 +0000

The Sierra Club and Worldwatch Institute have released a report ’Smart Choices for Biofuels’, which highights the need for important policy reforms.
The report examines the economic and environmental impacts of first-generation biofuels and offers specific policy recommendations in four broad categories to make the biofuels industry more sustainable:

Developing sustainability standards
Advancing biofuels production and new technologies
Creating green jobs through biofuels
Promoting policy coherence across energy

Smart Choices for Biofuels Report

Detailed research needed on Biochar

Corinna Byrne — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:17:51 +0000

A recent briefing paper from www.biofuelwatch.org.uk entited “Biochar for Climate Change Mitigation: Fact or Fiction?” has highlighted that more extensive research on Biochar is needed as currently “there is little to substantiate the many proclaimed benefits”. Further research funds need to be utilised to overcome address these issues.

The paper also dismisses the use of wastes and residues as feedstocks for biochar production as “the reality is that there are no large quantities of wastes and residues lying around unclaimed; not on a scale that can supply facilities over time and substantially contribute to energy demands.”

However this may not be the case, for example in Ireland approximately 45% of “waste” paper is landfilled each year, 54% exported and < 1% recycled (EPA National Waste Report 2006)……surely pyrolysis of this so-called waste to produce biochar would be of more benefit?