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Our Action:
Our team gathered data to determine the carbon content in the living trees located in the proposed site for a ground-mounted solar array, and estimated the amount of carbon that is annually sequestered by the trees composing this forested area. These data are essential to determine the actual impact of Franklin Pierce University's proposed solar array on the global carbon budget.
Excess carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere is a driving cause of global warming and has detrimental effects on the climate. By determining the amount of carbon already stored as well as the amount being sequestered in the site's forested area, we can learn how much carbon would be released back into the atmosphere and how much sequestration will be eliminated. This will allow us to understand the level of greenhouse gas emissions that will be saved through the long-term use of the array. The goal of our study is to determine whether or not the solar array will decrease the overall levels of carbon emissions and impact of Franklin Pierce University on the global carbon budget.
( image from https://mplsparksfoundation.org/case_studies/resiliency-to-climate-change/ )
U.S. Forests sequester ~10% of annual CO₂ emissions (Nunery, 2010) and can store more than THREE decades worth of carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels (Domke 2020).
Helpful Terminology
Global Carbon Budget - Is the determination between the input of CO2 to the atmosphere by emissions from human activities, balanced by output (storage) in the carbon reservoirs on land or in the ocean.
Carbon storage - Refers to carbon located in places other than the atmosphere, such as in trees, soil, and the oceans.
Carbon sequestration - Is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric CO2.
Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) - Amount of carbon fixed during photosynthesis by all producers in the ecosystem.
Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP) - Difference between the amount of carbon being sequestered and carbon being emitted.
Ecosystems where the GPP is greater than total respiration are referred to as "Carbon Sinks" because more carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere than the amount that is emitted.
Carbon storage and sequestration are important factors in determining NEP
What is Carbon Storage/ Sequestration and how does it work
Potential Site of FPU's Proposed Solar Array: (Modified from Lewis & Cuzner)
Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH (03461): An aerial view of the 1.77 hectares site designated for the proposed solar array. The site was separated into seven sections for data collection.
From March 12th- April 15th, our group collected data from section 1 of the proposed solar array site (seen in the photo above). Data collection is still ongoing today.
Estimates in the graph below are based on data collected in site 2 by students in ES329.
Figure 1. Bar graph showing the changes in CO2 emissions as result of proposed solar array.
The reduction shown in the first bar is a result of decreased reliance on energy sources associated with CO2 emissions, the emissions from manufacturing and installment of the solar array are accounted for; the second bar reflects the estimated release of stored carbon in the natural area based on tree diameter measurements taken Spring Semester, 2021; the increase shown in the third bar reflects the loss of future sequestration based on estimates from FPU forest plots which have been studied since 2003; the fourth bar shows the net reduction in CO2 emissions as a result of the solar array, including all phases of installation of the solar array, reduced reliance on the NH grid, and changes in the natural area accounted for.
Summary: After analysis of the net reduction shown in the graph above, we were able to conclude that the proposed solar array's reduction of greenhouse gas emissions greatly outweighs the increase in emissions caused by losses of carbon storage and future sequestration due to the changes in the natural area. The proposed solar array would result in a significant net reduction in the amount CO2 being emitted annually by Franklin Pierce University.
References:
Domke, Grant M.; Walters, Brian F.; Nowak, David J.; Smith, James, E.; Ogle, Stephen M.; Coulston, J.W.; Wirth, T.C. (2020). Greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forest land, woodlands, and urban trees in the United States, 1990-2018. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-227.
Lewis & Cuzner (2020). Climate Change Action: Bringing Solar to Franklin Pierce University.
Nunery, Jared S. William S. Keeton. (2010). Forest carbon storage in the northeastern United States: Net effects of harvesting frequency, post-harvest retention, and wood products, Forest Ecology and Management, 259(8), 1363-1375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.12.029.
This page created by Marrysa Trudeau, Sebastian Amico, and Tristan Burlingame
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