Potential and economic efficiency of carbon sequestration in forest biomass through silvicultural management

This paper has two main objectives: First, to discuss in principle some vital methodological issues which have to be considered when analyzing how preferable measures in forestry are to decrease the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Economic evaluation of the Dow of carbon in and out of the atmosphere is discussed, related particularly to two important problems: (1) the determination of the utility of reducing the quantity of CO2 in the atmosphere at a given point in time; and (2) the inter temporal evaluation of a flow of atmospheric CO2 reductions. The marginal cost, measured as the change in net present value, is proposed as a proper measure for ranking of alternative projects. Secondly, a case study is reported. The case study is based on forest-level optimization with a model estimating carbon flows related to forest biomass growth and decay, linked to a long-range forest management planning (LFMP) model. Alternative stand treatment schedules are simulated, and the forest management problem is solved by linear programming in a model I type LFMP model for the county of Buskerud, with a forest area of 574,000 ha. The potential for increasing the net carbon sequestration related to timber production by changes in the forest management over a time period at 30 yr is studied. A total of 253 stand treatment schedules was calculated for the 40 stand types, allowing for the following stand treatment options, (1) continued growth, (2) release thinnings of young growth, (3) thinning, (4) fertilization, (5) clear felling, (6) clear felling with retention of seed trees, and (7) planting or natural regeneration depending on the felling regime The study shows that there is a significant potential for increasing the present value of the flow of net CO2 fixations (NPV (CO2)) by changing the forest management on the productive forest area of Buskerud. Compared with the NPV (CO2) obtained when the net present value of the timber cash flow (NPVNOK) for the area