Book reviews

Water, Air, &; Soil Pollution -     

Terrestrial carbon management and electric utilities

In the near future regulations could be imposed affecting emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. Carbon offsets should be a component of any such regime. This paper addresses: 1) international and domestic policy actions related to C offset forestry, including the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change and the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 1992; 2) forestry-related efforts sponsored by U.S. electric utilities to sequester and store C, protect and manage forests, and conserve energy in urban environments; 3) considerations for implementing such efforts; and 4) electric utility industry research and development on advanced methods to use biomass as fuel.     

Biomass management and energy

The impact of managing biomass specifically for the conservation or production of energy can become a significant factor in the global management of atmopsheric CO₂ over the next century. This paper evaluates the global potential for: (1) conserving energy by using trees and wood for shading, shelterbelts, windbreaks, and construction material; and (2) increasing the use of biomass and improving its conversion efficiency for producing heat, electricity, and liquid biofuels. The potential reduction in CO₂ emissions possible by the anticipated time of atmospheric CO₂ doubling was estimated to be up to 50×10⁶t C yr^?1 for energy conservation and as high as 4×10⁹ t C yr^?1 for energy production. Of the many opportunities, two stand out. Through afforestation of degraded and deforested lands, biomass energy production offers the potential of 0.36 to 1.9×10⁹t C yr^?1 emission reduction. Dedicated energy crops, which include short-rotation woody crops, herbaceous energy crops, halophytes, some annual crops, and oilseeds, offer the potential of 0.2 to 1.0×10⁹t C yr^?1 emission reduction. Also addressed in the paper, but not quantified, were establishment of new forests, increasing the productivity of existing forests, or protecting forests to sequester C as an offset against CO₂ emissions from burning fossil fuels or forest destruction. Also addressed are uncertainties, gaps in scientific knowledge about ecosystems and their management, and policy considerations at the international and national levels.     

pH and hydrogen ion deposition patterns in precipitation for the continental United States and Canada

Maps of both volume-weighted mean pH and mean H⁺ deposition in precipitation were developed for the continental United States and Canada using data from 12 precipitation chemistry monitoring networks. The maps were constructed using 1981–1982 laboratory pH data from approximately 130 monitoring sites. The area of greatest acidity (lowest pH/highest H⁺ deposition) is located in the northern Ohio Valley and southeastern Ontario, an area corresponding to high SO_x and NO_x emissions.