An equivalence factor between CO2 avoided emissions and sequestration – description and applications in forestry

Authors: Moura Costa P.; Wilson C.

Source: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Volume 5, Number 1, 2000 , pp. 51-60(10)

Publisher: Springer

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $47.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

Concern about the issue of permanence and reversibility of the effects of carbon sequestration has led to the need to devise accounting methods that quantify the temporal value of storing carbon that has been actively sequestered or removed from the atmosphere, as compared to carbon stored as a result of activities taken to avoid emissions. This paper describes a method for accounting for the atmospheric effects of sequestration-based land-use projects in relation to the duration of carbon storage. Firstly, the time period over which sequestered carbon should be stored in order to counteract the radiative forcing effect of carbon emissions was calculated, based on the residence time and decay pattern of atmospheric CO_2, its Absolute Global Warming Potential. This time period was called the equivalence time, and was calculated to be approximately 55 years. From this equivalence time, the effect of storage of 1 t CO_2 for 1 year was derived, and found to be similar to preventing the effect of the emission of 0.0182 tCO_2. Potential applications of this tonne.year figure, here called the equivalence factor, are then discussed in relation to the estimation of atmospheric benefits over time of sequestration-based land use projects.

Keywords: carbon accounting; carbon sequestration; carbon sinks; carbon storage; equivalence time; equivalence factor; permanence; tonne.year

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: EcoSecurities Ltd, 45 Raleigh Park Road, Oxford OX2 9AZ, UK; E-mail: uk@ecosecurities.com

Publication date: 2000-01-01