1 on-line resource materials for policy making ex-ante carbon-balance tool food and agriculture...

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On-line resource materials for policy making Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO

Learning how using EX-ACT – Module 10/14

How to use The Organic soils

Module?

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This module is part of a set of power points that describes how works the EX-ACT tool.

EX-ACT (Ex-Ante Carbon-balance tool) is a tool developed by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It is aimed at providing estimations of the mitigation impact of agriculture and forestry development projects, estimating net carbon balance from Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and carbon sequestration.

It is a land based accounting system associated with the adoption of alternative land management options (See the linked flyer of the EX-ACT tool).

The tool is developed with a modular approach, each module going to be described in such a power point.

Acknowledgement



After reading this module, you should:

understand how the grassland module of EX-ACT works;

know which data are required to run the grassland module;

be able to fill in the grassland module by yourself.

Objectives



Main view of EX-ACT

User needs to click here



Complete view of the Organic soils module

Emissions from loss of C associated with drainage of organic soils

Emission factors (tonnes C ha-1 yr-1) Surface of organic soils concerned (ha) Total Emission (tCO2eq) Available areaType of Land use IPCC Specific Default Start End Difference of organic soils

Start Without With Without With (ha)Managed Forest 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0 Managed Forest 0Annual 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0 Annual 0Perennial 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0 Perennial 0Grassland 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grassland 0

On-site CO2 emissions from peatlands undergoing active peat extraction

Emission factors (tonnes C ha-1 yr-1) Surface of organic soils concerned (ha) Total Emission (tCO2eq) Available areaType of Peat IPCC Specific Default Start End Difference of peatlands

Start Without With Without With (ha)Nutrient-poot peat 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nutrient-poot peat 0Nutrient Rich 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nutrient Rich 0

On site CO2 emissions from peat use (energy use, horticultural use*…)

Air-dry weight of extracted peat, tonnes yr-1 Total Emission (tCO2eq)Type of Peat IPCC Specific Default (If you have volume of Peat use conversion factor on the right -->) Start End Difference Volume Mass

Start Without With Without With (m3) (tonnes)Nutrient-poot peat 0.0 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 #N/ANutrient Rich 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 #N/AAll carbon in horticultural peat is assumed to be emitted during the extraction year

On-site N2O emissions from peatlands undergoing active peat extraction

Emission factors ((kg N2O-N ha-1 yr-1) Surface of organic soils concerned (ha) Total Emission (tCO2eq)Type of Peat IPCC Specific Default Start End Difference

Start Without With Without WithNutrient-poot peat 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0Nutrient Rich 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total Organic soils 0 0 0

Total area of organic soils and peatlands (ha) 0

Emission (t CO2eq) per yearAll Period




C fraction [tonnes C (tonne air-dry peat)-

Without Project With Project





























How filling it...

Simplest approach by default (Tier-1) Approach with more detailed information (Tier-2)

2 possible approaches:

1 2 31

23


























Explanations step by step...

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Emission factors (tonnes C ha-1 yr-1) Surface of organic soils concerned (ha) Total Emission (tCO2eq)Type of Land use IPCC Specific Default Start End Difference

Start Without With Without WithManaged Forest 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0Annual 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0Perennial 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0Grassland 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear 0 0 0 0 0 0

























Step by step... 1/4

Drainage of organic soils

Proposed IPCC default factors depending on climate zone

Land uses that will be under

drainage

Possibility for the user to

affect its own ad-hoc factor

Area that is drained to be filled by the

user

Dynamic of drainage adoption

By default, the adoption of practices is considered as linear. Yet the user can choose between a linear/immediate/exponential dynamic



Step by step... 1/4

Drainage of organic soils
























Total Emission (tCO2eq) Available areaStart End Difference of organic soils

Without With Without With (ha)0 0 0 0 0 0 Managed Forest 00 0 0 0 0 0 Annual 00 0 0 0 0 0 Perennial 00 0 0 0 0 0 Grassland 0


These tables report the corresponding coefficients used for GHG emissions and some calculations made by the model



























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Emission factors (tonnes C ha-1 yr-1) Surface of organic soils concerned (ha)Type of Peat IPCC Specific Default

StartNutrient-poot peat 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 LinearNutrient Rich 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear

























Step by step... 2/4

CO2 emissions due to active peat extraction

According to IPCC, two kinds of peatland can be under extraction




Area on which extraction will be

carried, to be filled by the user

Dynamic of drainage adoption

By default, the adoption of practices is considered as linear. Yet the user can change the dynamic



Step by step... 2/4

CO2 emissions due to active peat extraction
























Total Emission (tCO2eq) Available areaStart End Difference of peatlands

Without With Without With (ha)0 0 0 0 0 0 Nutrient-poot peat 00 0 0 0 0 0 Nutrient Rich 0





























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CO2 emissions due to peat use

Step by step... 3/4Emissions from loss of C associated with drainage of organic soils
























Air-dry weight of extracted peat, tonnes yr-1Type of Peat IPCC Specific Default (If you have volume of Peat use conversion factor on the right -->)

StartNutrient-poot peat 0.0 YES 0 0 Linear 0 LinearNutrient Rich 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 LinearAll carbon in horticultural peat is assumed to be emitted during the extraction year



According to IPCC, two kinds of peatland can be under use




Quantity of peat used, to be filled by

the user

Dynamic of adoption

By default, the adoption of practices is considered as linear. Yet the user can choose another dynamic



Step by step... 3/4

CO2 emissions due to peat use
























Total Emission (tCO2eq) Available areaStart End Difference of peatlands

Without With Without With (ha)0 0 0 0 0 0 Nutrient-poot peat 00 0 0 0 0 0 Nutrient Rich 0



Volume Mass(m3) (tonnes)

1 #N/A1 #N/A

Conversion Factor (dry weight)

Short help to convert volume in mass, in case the user do not have data in t but in m3



























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Step by step... 4/4

N2O emissions due to active peat extraction


Emission factors ((kg N2O-N ha-1 yr-1) Surface of organic soils concerned (ha)Type of Peat IPCC Specific Default

StartNutrient-poot peat 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 LinearNutrient Rich 0.00 YES 0 0 Linear 0 Linear


According to IPCC, two kinds of peatland can be under use




The tool accounts automatically the area provided by the user in the

previous box called accounting the CO2 emissions


























Step by step... 4/4

N2O emissions due to active peat extraction

Total Emission (tCO2eq)Start End Difference

Without With Without With0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0




These tables report the corresponding

coefficients used for GHG emissions and some calculations

made by the model


























How filling it...Now you know everything about the Organic soils module...

…See the other modules!



Glossary


Emission factor: normalized coefficient that allows for calculating the emission fluxes of GHG

Carbon sink: system that absorb naturally a part of the CO2 emitted in the atmosphere and store carbon during a more or less long term

Carbon balance: should be considered, for a specific project (or scenario of action) in comparison with a reference, as the net balance of all GHG emissions expressed in CO2 equivalent (sources and sinks) with the atmosphere interface and the net change in C stocks (biomass, soil…).

Nutrient-poor and nutrient-rich peatlands: Nutrient-poor bogs predominate in boreal regions, while in temperate regions, nutrient-rich fens and mires are more common. Types of peatlands can be inferred from the end-use of peat: sphagnum peat, dominant in oligotrophic (nutrient-poor) bogs, is preferred for horticultural uses, while sedge peat, more common in minerotrophic (nutrient rich) fens, is more suitable for energy generation. Boreal countries that do not have information on areas of nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor peatlands should use the emission factor for nutrient-poor peatlands. Temperate countries that do not have such data should use the emission factor for nutrient-rich peatlands. Only one default factor is provided for tropical regions, so disaggregating peatland area by soil fertility is not necessary for tropical countries using the Tier 1 method.

Peatland: Typically a wetland such as a mire slowly accumulating peat. Peat is formed from dead plants, typically Sphagnum mosses, which are only partially decomposed due to the permanent submergence in water and the presence of conserving substances such as humic acids.

1 on-line resource materials for policy making ex-ante carbon-balance tool food and agriculture...

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