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National Mitigation Analysis
New EPA Technical Report |
The potential to sequester additional carbon and reduce emissions of other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in agriculture and forestry is an important element for U.S. climate policy.
This section of the Web site provides information on GHG mitigation analysis in U.S. agriculture and forestry, i.e., the technical and economic potential to enhance carbon sequestration and reduce other GHG emissions.
Key practices to enhance sequestration and reduce other GHG emissions in U.S. agriculture and forestry include changes in cropland tillage, tree planting, changes in forest management, forest preservation, and biofuel substitution.
One particular study in 2001 (McCarl and Schneider in Science) suggests that approximately 200 to 560 million metric tons of additional CO2-equivalent units per year (about 50 to 150 carbon equivalent units) could be achieved through changes in agricultural soil and forest management, tree planting, and biofuel substitution. These particular results considered the incentive to improve land-use practices at prices of $10 and $50 per metric ton of additional carbon stored.
Other mitigation studies for the U.S. can be found at the Agriculture
and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Modeling Forum, 
a forum that was created by EPA, USDA, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
and the Farm Foundation. The purpose of the Forum is to bring together
leading experts to compare and discuss different biophysical and economic
analyses of GHG mitigation opportunities in U.S. agriculture and forestry,
among other topics.
Presentations given at the Forum include (the following link to Powerpoint
presentations). Presentations can be closed by hitting escape:
- Assessment
of GHG Mitigation Opportunities in the U.S. Forest and Agriculture Sectors,
B. McCarl, 2002. (Powerpoint, 23 pp, 519K)
- Economic
Potential for GHG Mitigation in the Agriculture Sector, C. Jones, J.
Lewandrowski, M. Peters, R. House, M. Eve, K. Paustian and M. Sperow,
2002. (Powerpoint, 26 pp, 211K)
- Econometric
Estimation of the National Carbon Sequestration Supply Function, R.N.
Lubowski, A.J. Plantinga and R.N. Stavins, 2002. (Powerpoint, 59 pp, 122K)