Bioenergy plantations or long-term carbon sinks? – A model based analysis
Journal article, 2009

In order to mitigate climate change bio-productive land may be used mainly in two ways: afforestation with long-rotation forests with the primary aim to act as carbon sinks, and short-rotation forests that are used for energy purposes and thereby replace fossil fuels. Under an ambitious climate target, land that may be used for both bioenergy plantations and long-rotation forests, are likely to be scarce, and thereby competition between longrotation forests and bioenergy plantations can be expected. The goal of the study is to analyze the cost-effectiveness of bioenergy plantations versus long-rotations forests aimed at capturing and storing carbon. The study is performed by solving and analyzing a linear optimization model that links the energy system, an afforestation sector and the pulp and timber market. Many earlier studies tend to suggest that long-rotation forests offer lower costs per ton of CO2 avoided. Our study, however, shows that long-rotation forests for the purpose of carbon sequestration will not be cost-effective in the long run under a stringent climate policy. Thus, economic efficiency considerations tend to support short-rotation plantations for high carbon prices. The reason for this is that scarcity of land increases the opportunity cost of land, a feature which is generally not captured in static near-term analysis, but it is captured in a dynamic model like ours. For less stringent carbon targets long-rotation forests, that are harvested and sold as timber are cost-effective during a transient phase.

Climate change

Carbon sinks

Biomass

Author

Fredrik Hedenus

Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory

Christian Azar

Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory

Published in

Biomass and Bioenergy

0961-9534 (ISSN) 18732909 (eISSN)

Issue 33 p. 1693-1702

Categorizing

Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)

Other Environmental Engineering

Identifiers

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Created

10/7/2017