Carbon Dioxide Emissions Calculations For Forest Biomass Energy Projects Are Dependent Upon Regionally-Specific Conditions
An issue brief recently released by the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) highlighted the importance of regional studies of biomass energy development. The brief relied on a model developed by the Spatial Informatics Group (SIG) to assess the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of energy derived from forest biomass in a nine-state region of the southeast United States. The model built on prior work conducted on behalf of the Southern Environmental Law Center and the National Wildlife Federation in 2012.
TerraOnTrack
Spatial Informatics Group, with partners SERVIR-SEA and Imaflora and support from NASA and USAID, created an application that allows traditional and indigenous communities in Brazil to access a wealth of information about the territories they call home. From deforestation threats to illegal activity warnings, communities can use TerraOnTrack to monitor potential problems in near-real time, upload additional information, and make informed decisions about their land.
se.plan
se.plan is a free online tool to identify places where the benefits of forest restoration are high relative to costs. A component of the open source software suite Open Foris and part of the SEPAL system, se.plan lets users generate maps and related information on the costs and benefits of restoration efforts on any particular site.
Mapping Forest Degradation In Nepal With Remote Sensing
Under international climate change agreements, countries must estimate greenhouse gas emissions related to deforestation and forest degradation.
In cases of deforestation—when trees are cut and replaced by annual crops, for instance—the change in land cover is clearly visible. Forest degradation, by contrast, is more subtle. Trees are lost but the land remains forested and often recovers quickly—making the changes hard to detect.
With Biomass Energy, The Carbon Savings Are In the Details
Biomass energy, Michael Moore’s new documentary Planet of the Humans faces criticism from environmentalists for using outdated data and simplistic analyses on renewables.
