Forest Sector Carbon Budget of the United States: Carbon Pools and Flux underAlternative Policy Options

摘要

The document presents a model of the current and future carbon budget associatedwith the forest ecosystems of the contermious U.S. The focus is on effects of economic and environmental policy changes for the period of 1990-2040. In the study, the concept of 'forest ecosystem' has been expanded to 'forest sector' by including biomass that has been physically removed (harvested) for human use. The potential effects of climate change have not been incorporated; however, current research is directed at addressing this question. The specific objectives of the report are to: (1) Develop a methodology for quantifying the current and future forest sector carbon budget for the U.S., (2) Apply the methodology to quantify the current status of carbon pools and flux within the U.S. forest sector, (3) Apply the methodology to several scenarios based on alternative policy options, and (4) Identify gaps and deficiencies in the data and in the modeling approaches that require further effort.