KDF Search Results

ABSTRACT. Adding bioenergy to the U.S. energy portfolio requires long‐term profitability for bioenergy producers and long‐term protection of affected ecosystems. In this study, we present steps along the path toward evaluating both sides of the sustainability equation (production and environmental) for switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). We modeled production of switchgrass and river flow using SWAT for current landscapes at a regional scale.

A Workshop for Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and their collaborators was held on September 10-11, 2009 at ORNL. The informal workshop focused on “Sustainability of Bioenergy Systems: Cradle to Grave.” The topics covered included sustainability issues associated with feedstock production and transport, production of biofuels and by-products, and delivery and consumption by the end users.

When we think about sustainable bioenergy feedstocks in the United States, we ask ourselves what we will grow, where we will grow it, and how much we will grow. We also must consider the local as well as the broad-scale implications. From the perspective of landscape ecology, we tend to look at the broader scales.  It is one of the big challenges of bioenergy, not just looking at what happens to the local farmer but thinking about broader implications. From a global perspective, we also need to ask the same questinos, how much, what type and where?

Deforestation due to ever-increasing activities of the growing human population has been an issue of major concern for the global environment. It has been especially serious in the last several decades in the developing countries. A population-deforestation model has been developed by the authors to relate the population density with the cumulative forest loss, which is defined and computed as the total forest loss until 1990 since prior to human civilisation. NOAA-AVHRR-based land cover map and the FAO forest statistics have been used for 1990 land cover.

T. Searchinger et al. propose "Fixing a critical climate accounting error" (Policy Forum, 23 October 2009, p. 527). We agree that greenhouse gas (GHG) emission accounting needs to be more comprehensive, but believe that Searchinger's proposal would make matters worse by increasing the complexity and uncertainty of calculations. Solutions must be practical and verifiable to be effective.

NREL's energy-water modeling and analysis activities analyze the interactions and dependencies of water with the dynamics of the power sector and the transportation sector. A variety of models and tools are utilized to consider water as a critical resource for power sector development and operations as well as transportation fuels.

Biomass Scenario Model Zotero References
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

We present a system dynamics global LUC model intended to examine LUC attributed to biofuel production. The model has major global land system stocks and flows and can be exercised under different food and biofuel demand assumptions. This model provides insights into the drivers and dynamic interactions of LUC, population, dietary choices, and biofuel policy rather than a precise number generator.

Consensus is growing among scientists, policy makers, and business leaders that concerted action will be needed to address rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. The discussion is now turning to the practical challenges of where and how emissions reductions can best be achieved, at what costs, and over what periods of time.

Earth warmed by more than 0.6 degrees Celsius (ºC) over the 20th century. Past fluctuations in naturally-occurring atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations have caused Earth to warm and to cool, in cycles of around 100,000 years, with the timing of these cycles largely determined by a repeating pattern in the Earth’s solar orbit.

Global climate change is one of the most complex environmental, energy, economic, and political issues confronting the international community. Its time and geographic scales are unprecedented in their scope, touching every human activity that involves energy or land and requiring a strategy that stretches a century or more into the future. The actions needed to manage the risks of climate change require long-term commitments to severely limit net emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by developing and deploying new ways of producing and using energy across the world.

The APA Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change met in 2008-2009 to examine the role of psychology in understanding and addressing global climate change, including efforts to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

2010 total population counts per county in the United States from the 2010 decennial census.

Gridded Population of the World, Version 3 (GPWv3) consists of estimates of human population for the years 1990, 1995, and 2000 by 2.5 arc-minute grid cells and associated datasets dated circa 2000. The data products include population count grids (raw counts), population density grids (per square km), land area grids (actual area net of ice and water), mean administrative unit area grids, centroids, a national identifier grid, national boundaries, and coastlines.

The U.S. Census Grids provide raster data sets that include not only population and housing counts, but a wide variety of socioeconomic characteristics. These gridded data sets transform irregularly shaped census block and block group boundaries into a regular surface – a raster grid – for faster and easier analysis. Data sets are currently available for the year 2000.

The Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP), Alpha Version consists of estimates of human population for the years 1990, 1995, and 2000 by 30 arc-second (1km) grid cells and associated datasets dated circa 2000. The data products include population count grids (raw counts), population density grids (per square km), land area grids (actual area net of ice and water), mean geographic unit area grids, urban extents grids, centroids, a national identifier grid, national boundaries, coastlines, and settlement points.

USDA Agricultural Projections for 2011-20, released in February 2011, provide longrun projections for the farm sector for the next 10 years. These annual projections cover agricultural commodities, agricultural trade, and aggregate indicators of the sector, such as farm income and food prices.

Important assumptions for the projections include:

NHD Basin Boundaries developed from the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD).