The comparison of carbon trade-offs between eucalyptus in southern China and loblolly pine in North Carolina, USA

Abstract

Shen, Tiantian. Master of Natural Resources – Economics and Management. The Comparison of Carbon Trade-offs between Eucalyptus in Southern China and Loblolly Pine in North Carolina, USA Forests have a critical role in slowing climate change because it acts as a sink for CO2 by fixing carbon during photosynthesis and storing excess carbon as biomass. Variation in forest management prescriptions could achieve higher levels of carbon storage compared to a baseline condition. Improvements in forest management becomes more important in the growing global carbon markets since carbon credits have been developed as a serious financial instrument. Eucalyptus is the most common species planted in southern China and loblolly pine is the most common species planted in North Carolina, USA. Both of species are widely used for a variety of timber products but their optimal rotation ages are typically calculated without including of carbon value. This study uses two growth and yield models, one for China’s eucalyptus and one for North Carolina’s loblolly pine and compares them in terms of net present value of both timber and carbon, timber SEV, and carbon SEV. This study combines timber value with tree carbon value and re-calculates their optimal rotation age considering carbon credits. The result shows the average optimal rotation age of China’s eucalyptus increases from 7 years to 21 years and loblolly pine increases from 20 years to 22 years. From the IRR analysis, loblolly pine in NC is more worth to be invested. Though there are more conditions that need to be considered in managing the forest, this study discusses the possibility to postpone the rotation age of plantations to encourage more carbon credits.