Northern Forest Alliance 2008 Climate Change Conference
November 1-2, 2008
Dartmouth College
Hanover, New Hampshire

Speaker Abstracts

Speaker
Professor Andrew J. Friedland
Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College

Title
Ecosystem Costs and Benefits of Fuel Switching from Oil to Wood In the Northern Forest

As the adverse effects of fossil fuel combustion have become more pronounced, there has been additional pressure to increase reliance on renewable fuels as replacements. The Northern Forest region relies heavily on heating oil (#2 oil) for home heating. In this part of the country, woody biomass may have the greatest promise for development as an alternative to fossil fuel. The main advantage of using wood (or other biomass products) for heating-if it displaces coal-fired electricity or oil-is the potential reduction in the release of fossil carbon to the atmosphere. If we assume that older forests are in a near-steady state (where respiratory losses are equal to photosynthetic uptake) and are no longer actively sequestering carbon, then conversion of older forests to young, fast-growing forests would have the added benefit of replacing a carbon-neutral forest with a carbon sink. Thus the carbon released by burning wood would be re-sequestered more rapidly by young forests than old forests. This implies that there would be an optimal rotation length that would maximize the rate at which carbon is stored in biomass and thus the sustainable biomass harvest.

One should be able to determine the optimal quantity of sustainable tree harvest that can be achieved in the Northern Forest that will result in an offset of oil and still maintain net carbon removal from the atmosphere. This information will have basic scientific value and it will also help inform public policy discussions such as those taking place in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Adverse effects on human health and reductions in species and ecosystem biodiversity of the Northern Forest are not within the scope of our study but absolutely must be considered. sources: Andrew J. Friedland, Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, and Andrew D. Richardson, Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824

Speaker
Dwayne Breger, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources

Title
Massachusetts Bioenergy: Sustainable Forest Biomass Initiative and Biofuels Legislation

Massachusetts recognizes woody biomass as an important indigenous renewable energy resource. The state is currently engaged in its Sustainable Forest Bioenergy Initiative which has completed a woody biomass resource assessment, an economic impact analysis, a study of harvesting impacts on forest ecosystem health, and a strategic plan to promote biomass economic development. In 2008, the state legislature passed the Clean Energy Biofuels Act which established tax incentives for cellulosic ethanol and mandates for the blending of advanced biofuels in diesel and heating fuels, and consideration of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The goals and status of these programs will be presented.

Speaker
Jon Rosales, Ph.D.
Environmental Studies Program, St. Lawrence University

Title
Global Policy and Local Forestry

The global climate change regime is defined by the Kyoto Protocol. Decisions have been made on how to tackle climate change and how greenhouse gases reductions will be counted. While the United States has not ratified the treaty, both major party candidates indicate that they will at least re-engage the United States with the global climate change talks and regime. This presentation focuses on preparing ourselves to anticipate what ratification would mean for our forests. In other words, what does the Kyoto Protocol have in store for the United States, for our forests, and for our universities and colleges if and when we ratify? We must anticipate the day when we will have to 1) guard the ntegrity of our forests as they become an resource for global climate change mitigation, and 2) take advantage of the additional incentives the global climate change regime can bring to preserve and restore our forests.

Speaker
Coeli M. Hoover, Ph.D.
Research Ecologist, US Forest Service

Title
Forest Carbon Sequestration 101

As the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to rise, ways to mitigate the increase are receiving more attention. One possible option is to temporarily sequester more carbon in forests; US forests currently offset about 10% of national greenhouse gas emissions. Sequestering more carbon in forests can be achieved in several ways; by afforesting lands not currently in forest cover, by reforestation of lands, and through improved forest management.

What is the forest carbon cycle? What kind of data and tools are needed to develop carbon estimates? How much carbon is stored in our northern forests? This talk will cover the basics of the forest carbon cycle, provide some estimates of carbon stocks in northern forests, and discuss the basic principles of forest carbon inventory and accounting.

Speaker
David Sleeper
Executive Director, Hubbard Brook Research Foundation

Title
Managing Carbon in the Northeastern Landscape:
Hubbard Brook's Science Links Carbon Project/Lessons from Eight Counties

As part of its Science Links Program, the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation is doing detailed case studies of the carbon budgets in eight counties: Chittenden County, VT; Tompkins County, NY; Baltimore County, MD; Coos and Grafton Counties, NH; and Worcester, Essex, and Middlesex Counties, MA. The efficacy of carbon mitigation strategies vary depending on the locale, with the highest mitigation likely to come from home energy and the transportation sectors. In the Northeast, existing second growth forests are sinks for carbon, but new tools and standardized policies are needed to maximize C abatement.

Speaker
Joel M. Harrington, J.D
Director of Government Relations, The Nature Conservancy

Title
Biofuels and Land-Use

Increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low-carbon fuels a high priority. As a result land in undisturbed ecosystems, especially in the United States, is being converted to biofuel production and to crop production when agricultural land is diverted to biofuel production. Soils and plant biomass are the two largest biologically active stores of terrestrial carbon, together containing ~2.7 times more carbon than the atmosphere. Converting native habitats to cropland releases carbon dioxide due to burning or microbial decomposition of organic carbon stored in plant biomass and soils. After a rapid release from fire used to clear land or from decomposition of leaves and fine roots, there is a prolonged period of GHG release as coarse roots and branches decay and as wood products decay or burn. Research completed by The Nature Conservancy and the University of Minnesota examines the conversion of land for biofuels and asks the question 'Is it worth it?' Does the carbon you lose by converting forests, grasslands, and peatlands outweigh the carbon you 'save' by using biofuels instead of fossil fuels?

Speaker
Vikki L. Rodgers, Ph.D.
Environmental Studies Program, Babson College

Title
What a nuisance!
Responses of Invasive Plants and Insect Pests to Climate Change in Northeastern North American Forests

Recent climate change projections suggest that the northeastern US and eastern Canada may experience increases in average surface temperatures of approximately 3-5°C and increases in winter precipitation by 10-15%. These changes will directly affect the survival and growth of forest tree species, but they will also indirectly affect forest communities by causing changes in "nuisance" species, such as invasive plants and insect pests. Responses of these nuisance species will affect disturbance regimes and successional trajectories of the forests. Although uncertainty pervades the predictions for many of these species, it is likely that several nuisance species would have stronger or more widespread effects on the composition of northeastern North American forests under projected future climate scenarios.

Speaker
Jim Merkel
Author of Radical Simplicity, Global Living Project

Title
Climate Neutral Leadership

Seriously reducing Greenhouse Gases (GHG) is among the hottest issues addressed by student leaders on campuses from coast to coast. With actual measurements exceeding predictions, scientists like Dr. James Hansen are urging swift and deep cuts in emissions. Many campuses are taking a leadership role, going beyond the calls for 80 percent reductions in GHGs by 2050.

Over 585 campuses have signed the American College and University President's Climate Commitment agreeing to establish a plan to attain climate neutrality as soon as possible. Many other campuses have signed less rigorous climate commitments.

Just what does it mean to be climate neutral? How is it even possible when most campuses currently use fossil fuels for transportation, heating and electricity? Further, most of the building materials, supplies and foods on campuses are heavily laden with embodied fossil energy that is currently not part of carbon inventories.

In this session, Jim Merkel will explore these questions as well as outline approaches for getting very close to climate neutrality. Efficiency alone cannot take a campus to climate neutral. Neither can behavioral shifts, or better insulation or new technology or more effective scheduling or extending life spans of assets or cleaner fuels or more careful management or shifting to green energy. However, taken together, with a 'yes and' approach, managed over a 20 year period, each of these approaches are feasible and practical. Through systematic optimization of these types of relatively independent factors, deep GHG reductions are possible through a phenomenon known as multiplication.

Much of the questionable strategies such as engaging in carbon offsetting, trading and credits can be viewed as one small component in a comprehensive plan. Trading externalities such as toxicity for reduced direct emissions in the case of nuclear power, and biodiversity and habitat for potentially renewable local energy sources in the case of biofuels, are unnecessary.

Jim Merkel is the author of Radical Simplicity and former sustainability coordinator at Dartmouth College. He currently directs the Global Living Project, consults with campuses on sustainability programs, teaches and homesteads.