Strategies for reducing carbon emissions on the tropical rain forest: The case of the Brazilian Amazon

• Published in: Energy conversion and management 1996-06, Vol.37 (6), p.757-762
• Main Authors: de Freitas, Marcos A.V., Rosa, Luiz.P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Biological and medical sciences; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Environmental degradation: ecosystems survey and restoration; Exact sciences and technology; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Generalities; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; Global environmental pollution; Pollution
• ISSN: 0196-8904; 1879-2227
• DOI: 10.1016/0196-8904(95)00252-9

The Brazilian Amazon deforestation has been responsible, in part, for the increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere. In 1990, the amount of carbon released to the atmosphere (as CO2) from Brazilian Amazon deforestation was 3.5 % to 4.9 % and 250 % to 360 % of the World and Brazilian annual emission from fossil fuels, respectively. In fact, the forest removal is a major contributor to local, regional and global environmental changes. Today, the deforested lands account for an amount superior to 430,000 Km 2. In addition to increase of the greenhouse effect, the foreseeable consequences of deforestation are : losses of the soil nutrients, surface erosion, decline in water percolation, evapo-transpiration and the annual pluviosity, losses in the biodiversity, etc.. On the other hand, deforestation is halted and replaced with a rational forest management, a reuse of degraded lands for agro-forestry and biomass production for energy and industrial purposes, we can reduce the pressure on forests lands and the net carbon flux will be reversed. In this paper, we argue the possibilities to achieve a sustainable biomass valorisation in the forest and degraded lands in Brazilian Amazon, with a special interest in the job creation, the cost of these strategies and their carbon flow.