Word: foresters
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...increase - or at least not displace - existing plant growth, which naturally takes carbon out of the atmosphere. For example, if the wood chips left over from logging were used to make biofuel, overall greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced, since that wood waste would have decomposed on the forest floor and released as carbon into the atmosphere anyway. By using them for fuel, it not only replaces some fossil fuel but also does not destroy plant life...
...that's rarely how it works in most biofuel production today. Instead, a long-standing forest might be clear cut in Indonesia and replaced with a plantation of palms to make biodiesel. That's where the accounting error crops up: we should assess the carbon lost in deforestation when we measure the greenness of biofuels, but that's not how it works under Kyoto, which simply exempts all CO2 emissions that come from using biofuels. CO2 emissions resulting from deforestation or other changes in the way we use land are not evaluated at all. The result is a huge...
...emissions and comply with a tightening carbon cap. One study estimates that if the world were to meet a 50% "cut" in global greenhouse gases by 2050 under the current calculations, the necessary biofuel-crops expansion would be large enough to displace 59% of the world's natural forest cover - which would release an additional 9 billion tons of CO2 a year. "Carbon capture and storage, solar power, electric batteries - all of these alternatives have serious costs," says Searchinger. "But if you can just use up the world's carbon in forests to meet your cap, that turns...
...pictures of forest defenders...
...course they need to do more," says Lai. "The political will is there, but the problem is implementation at the local level." Millions of people live on these lands and earn their livelihoods from the forest. It's always a challenge to pursue policies that allow local communities to live in the protected areas but also maintain the habitats. Other countries in Asia are trying to do this, he says, but Vietnam is actually faring better than most...