Climate Change - Potential For Agriculture

Producing Power from Bagasse, earns carbon credit

Beyond Kyoto Protocol, why exclude Agriculture

Forests cannot digest all our emissions, Gobar Times Article

Gobar Times, September 15, 2009

C U T T I N G E D G E

This month the footlights are on the forests. The Haryana state government, which was recently rapped on the knuckles by the Supreme Court for ongoing the illegal mining activities in the Aravalli hills, has just announced its plans of using high-tech Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to monitor its forest cover. A few weeks before this, the Union Minster for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, released a report on ‘India’s Forest and Tree Cover-Contribution as a Carbon Sink’. It was the first ever study to calculate capacity of India’s 65 million hectare of forests to soak up carbon. Highlights of the report are: Carbon stored in our forest has increased from 6,245 million tonnes in 1995 to 6,662 million tonnes in 2005. This is equivalent to neutralizing 100 per cent emissions from all energy in residential and transport sector or 40 per cent of total emissions from the agriculture sector. And to neutralizing 11.25 per cent of India’s total green house gas (GHG) emissions from all sectors (at 1994 levels). It also says net worth of our forests is US $120 billion or Rs 6, 00,000 crores even after a conservative estimate of US $5 per tonne of CO2. A Vic-tree over carbon? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends that if the entire available area of 420 million hectare in developing countries was forested, it would create a carbon sink to absorb two thirds of world’s emissions (assuming one ha forest absorbs 10 tonnes of carbon per year). This is one of the very few recommendations of IPCC, which has been readily accepted by the developed countries. Probably because it puts the onus on the developing world to reforest itself , while thy can continue to emit—‘business as usual’. Bill Mc Kibben, founder of an NGO dedicated to arrest carbon levels at 350 ppm -350.org said “It’s like a bathtub. Increased forestation is a drain that reduces carbon, but if you’re still pouring water in from the faucet the level never really drops. So forestation can’t be a substitute for emissions reductions” The burning issue: trees Here’s why. What happens when something warms up? It becomes hot. And what happens when it is heated even further? It catches fire. And that is what is happening to acres of forests across the world. Europe has lost about 200,000 hectares of forest to fires till summer, which is much more than entire 2008, when 158,621 hectares were destroyed, according to the European Union. Even the snow-clad ranges of the Himalayas could not save 1,00,000 hectare of alpine forests in Nepal and 25,000 ha more in Himachal Pradesh from going up in flames. More frightening are the predictions for the future. The Research by International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) says the ability for forests to sink carbon could be lost entirely if the Earth heats up by 2.5 degrees C or more. Research by atmospheric scientists at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) warns that a type of carbon generated during forest fires, organic carbon aerosol, would build up in volume by as much as 40 per cent. In other words, forests are not only losing their capacity to absorb carbon, but are actually running the risk of becoming be carbon emitters themselves. What do you think? Carbon Sequestration Most of you have heard this word before, but do know what it actually means? Carbon obviously denotes the emission of carbon dioxide gas from our cars, factories and everything we burn. But did you know that sequestration is the Scottish legal term for personal bankruptcy? It is one way of dealing with debts you cannot pay. The sequestration proceedings free you from overwhelming debts so you can make a fresh start. This might be possible in a man-made subject of economics, but not in a man-marred subject of environment. And thus the carbon sequestration policy is flawed from the ‘word’ go.

How Green is tea?

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TEA SCIENCE (INCLUDING TEA SCIENCE ABSTRACTS) VOLUME 7 (3& 4) 2008.

Brain Teaser

HOW GREEN IS TEA

K V S Krishna*

Editor’s forward: That the tea crop is the only source of income from tea field may not be the ultimate truth according to more academically minded. Here is one very interesting example that would excite many inclined to mathematics and calculations and show that carbon credits may be a major source of income from tea plantations if you can carry

Conviction to the authorities concerned that tea is a highly efficient carbon sequestering crop.

Tea alleviates damage caused by carbon dioxide emission that leads to climate change. The tea crop is more eco-friendly than natural forests, plantation forests or rubber plantations. According to Nigel Melican, Managing Director of Teacraft Ltd.,U.K,(**Personal communication) over a period of 80 years, under African conditions tea absorbs 18.9 tonnes. carbon per hectare per year or 69.36 t/ha/yr of CO2. Using this basic input, consider the following computations of carbon

Sequestering by tea crop, based on global tea production data for five year average for 2000/2005

1) World's production of tea is 3,200,000 kg

2) World's average tea yield is1145 kg per hectare

3) World's area under tea is 2,794,759 hectares

4) Therefore, CO2 absorbed by tea in the world at 69.36t/CO2/ha into 2.8m.ha =194.2mt of CO2. So, the world tea crop absorbs 194.2 million tonnes of CO2 per annum worldwide.

Considering Carbon footprint, there is another way of calculating how much of CO2 does a kg of tea absorb.

1) CO2 absorbed per hectare is 69360 kg

2) World's average yield per hectare 1145 kg

3) Therefore, CO2 absorbed per kg of tea =60.6 kg

4) Less Carbon n footprint-depending on NPK fertilizer, fossil fuels, manufacture, packing, transport up to U.K, which ranges from 0-5 kg or say 5 kg?

5) At 3 kg made tea per man-day, include human respiration which is 1 kg CO2/kg tea

6) Therefore net absorption of CO2 is 54.6 kg per kg of tea

7) Net absorption on3.2 million kg into 54.6 = 174.7 tm

Therefore, every kg of tea supports absorption of 54.6 kg of CO2 or 174/179million kg of CO2, worldwide by the later calculation, accounting for carbon footprint of tea. Thus while tea removes atmospheric CO2 at 54.6 to 69.36 t/ha/yr, rubber plantation removes 7.84 t/ha/yr of C or 28.77 t/ha/yr of CO2.Various natural forests remove 3.5 to 15 t/ha/yr while old forests adds CO2 to the atmosphere. So, tea has negative carbon footprint and entitled to CDM Funds as per Kyoto Protocol or carbon credits.

*K.V.S.KRISHNA, 2 A,. Parkland Apartments, Kamalabhai Street, T-nagar, Chennai- 600017 (INDIA) TEL- 91-044-2815, E-mail kvskrishna@rediffmail.com

**For tea grown under African conditions and on a 4 year prune and assuming a partition of 10% of synthate to flush, I calculate 2.6 kg CO2 per bush is trapped into maintenance leaf, wood and roots every year. This is approx 28,000 kg CO2 trapped per acre annually. Assuming a commercial life of 80 years and all pruning returned to soil that’s 2,240 tonnes of CO2 sequestered per acre of tea – or 5,533 tonnes per hectare. Converting to Carbon (x12/44) gives 1,509 tonnes

C per hectare over 80 years – or 18.9 tonnes C per ha per annum.

**The carbon footprint of a packet of tea is less precise – depending on N fertilizer dosage, fossil fuel element in the manufacture, and distribution chain to UK.

I have calculated footprints from carbon zero up to 5 kg CO2/kg of packed tea depending on the supply chain factors.

Population Monster, Letter to Ministry of Environments & Forests

Antiquity Of indian Languages