Improved estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from drained peatlands support a reduction in emission factor
Abstract Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Annex 1 countries must report annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from peatlands drained for extraction. However, the Tier 1 emission factor (EF) provided in the IPCC 2014 Wetland Supplement is based mainly on warm season da...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01091-y |
| _version_ | 1827633022950703104 |
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| author | Hongxing He Nigel T. Roulet |
| author_facet | Hongxing He Nigel T. Roulet |
| author_sort | Hongxing He |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Annex 1 countries must report annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from peatlands drained for extraction. However, the Tier 1 emission factor (EF) provided in the IPCC 2014 Wetland Supplement is based mainly on warm season data from a limited number of sites. Here we evaluate the current IPCC EF and revise it with newly published data. The updated EF is 2.46 ± 0.25 t C ha−1 yr−1, a 12% reduction and a threefold decrease in the confidence interval compared to the current IPCC (2014) EF. We generate a Tier 3 EF, 1.4 ± 0.25 t C ha−1 yr−1 for a typical extraction site in eastern Canada using numerical CoupModel that explicitly considers seasonality and interannual climatic variability, and suggest how to account for seasonality for the previously published EFs. This reduction has implications for comparing alternatives to peat-based growing substrates, the assessment of offsets, and possible punitive carbon taxes or cap-and-trade schemes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T14:53:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f60a2a8b0dc64d2ba1f92f87341d14f8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T14:53:45Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj.art-f60a2a8b0dc64d2ba1f92f87341d14f82023-11-26T14:20:16ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352023-11-01411610.1038/s43247-023-01091-yImproved estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from drained peatlands support a reduction in emission factorHongxing He0Nigel T. Roulet1Department of Geography, McGill UniversityDepartment of Geography, McGill UniversityAbstract Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Annex 1 countries must report annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from peatlands drained for extraction. However, the Tier 1 emission factor (EF) provided in the IPCC 2014 Wetland Supplement is based mainly on warm season data from a limited number of sites. Here we evaluate the current IPCC EF and revise it with newly published data. The updated EF is 2.46 ± 0.25 t C ha−1 yr−1, a 12% reduction and a threefold decrease in the confidence interval compared to the current IPCC (2014) EF. We generate a Tier 3 EF, 1.4 ± 0.25 t C ha−1 yr−1 for a typical extraction site in eastern Canada using numerical CoupModel that explicitly considers seasonality and interannual climatic variability, and suggest how to account for seasonality for the previously published EFs. This reduction has implications for comparing alternatives to peat-based growing substrates, the assessment of offsets, and possible punitive carbon taxes or cap-and-trade schemes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01091-y |
| spellingShingle | Hongxing He Nigel T. Roulet Improved estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from drained peatlands support a reduction in emission factor Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Improved estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from drained peatlands support a reduction in emission factor |
| title_full | Improved estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from drained peatlands support a reduction in emission factor |
| title_fullStr | Improved estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from drained peatlands support a reduction in emission factor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improved estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from drained peatlands support a reduction in emission factor |
| title_short | Improved estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from drained peatlands support a reduction in emission factor |
| title_sort | improved estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from drained peatlands support a reduction in emission factor |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01091-y |
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