Project Objective:
Estimate direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions incurred as a result of land use change for the conversion of raw land to a wind power station.
What is Land Use Change?
Greenhouse gas impacts result from land use change (LUC) if there is a change in the density of vegetation. Reducing vegetation results in less capacity for the land to absorb and sequester carbon. Once a change occurs, that reduction continues to result in an annual impact (since carbon absorption is an ongoing process) until another change occurs.
Direct GHG emissions from land use change (dLUC) include the impacts of soil carbon fluxes and demineralization as a result of land conversion events.
Calculation Approach:
Aerial photos and survey data were used to determine the area of impacted land both before and after the land change event. The primary change in land occurred because of added concrete foundations (wind turbine base) and concrete used to build site access roads.
LUC calculation methodology is based on the GHG Protocol’s Draft Land Sector and Removals Guidance, and the secondary data (e.g., soil C content) used in the calculations were taken from IPCC, Special report on climate change and land: technical report.
Discounting Approach:
LUC emissions may be discounted using an equal discounting approach where an assessment period of each land use change event is selected. For this project, we used an assessment period of twenty (20) years.
Results:
Emissions were reported in metric ton CO2e per changed acre.
Our analysis concluded, land use change for this type of development can be minimized through:
· Thoughtful design
· Site selection
· Promotion of ecosystem and biodiversity