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Yeong Mo Son*, Rae Hyun Kim & Tzeng Yih Lam

( E-mail : treelove@forest.go.kr, rhkim@forest.go.kr,

tylam.forest@gmail.com)

Korea Forest Research Institute

Carbon Emission Factors and

Uncertainty Assessment for

Forestry Sector in Korea

CarboForest Conference, Poland, September 21-23 2011

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Table of Content

Objectives

Forest Biomass Inventory

Emission Factor Estimation and Uncertainty

Analysis

Application of Emission Factors

Further Study

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Introduction of forest biomass survey

protocol and activities in Korea,

Estimation of emission factors for 12

major tree species and their associated

uncertainties.

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Survey Area Location for Estimating

Carbon Emission Factors

Forest Biomass Inventory

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Forest carbon accounting research ('07～’09)

Species No. of Plot

Quercus variabilis 15

Pinus densiflora (Gangwon) 12

Larix kaempferi 15

Pinus rigida 11

Cryptomeria japonica 6

Quercus mongolica 17

Pinus densiflora (Central) 35

Pinus koraiensis 10

Quercus acutissima 10

Chamaecyparis obtusa 6

Pinus thunbergii 8

Populus tornentiglandulsa 5

Total 150

130125

129126

128127

39

38

37

36

35

34

33

±

0 100,000 200,000 300,00050,000Kilometers

126 129Survey Locations

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Biomass Components

Stem

Branch

Leaves

Root

▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ • DBH

• Height

• Fresh Weight :

Stem, Bark,

Branch, Leaf,

Root

• Dry Weight :

Stem, Bark,

Branch, Leaf,

Root

Sampled Single Tree

• Tally Sheet

Location

Area

Number of trees

Slope

DBH

Survey plot

…

…

Developing model (volume) Developing model (dry weight)

(Height)

Basic wood density Biomass expansion factor

Emission factors

Uncertainty QA/QC

Root-shoot ratio

Overall Process of Biomass Survey and Estimation

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Field Survey Protocol

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Field work

- Plot size is 20 m × 20 m (0.04 ha),

- All in-tree are measured for diameter,

- 5 trees are selected for destructive sampling

based on diameter distribution of the plot,

- 3 of the selected trees have their roots excavated.

The manual is the basis of forest carbon accounting

survey carried out between 2007 ~ 2009,

Survey Manual for Biomass and Soil Carbon

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Aboveground Biomass Sampling

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Aboveground Biomass Sampling

Measure Fresh Weight

Collect Samples from

Each Carbon Pool

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Survey Manual for Biomass and Soil Carbon

Indoor laboratory activities include,

- Collected samples are dried at 85 °C,

- Dry weights of the samples are measured,

- Coefficients of dry-to-fresh weight are estimated,

- Models for emission factors and their uncertainty

are developed and reported.

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Analysis Process

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NFI

Volume Biomass

Above-ground

biomass

Below-ground

biomass

Total carbon

sequestration

Biomass from

each part

Total

biomass

- DBH

- height

- stem

- branch

- leaf

- roots

WD

BEF

Annual

report

V = f (D,H)

Carbon

fraction Allometric

equation

R

Carbon

fraction

Carbon Conversion Process

※Carbon fraction : 0.5

(IPCC default)

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- The purpose of uncertainty assessments are,

- Evaluation of inventory quality and,

- Decision-making support on methodology.

IPCC Guidelines (2006) provided a measure of

uncertainty:

Uncertainty =

where, 95%C.Iwidth is the confidence interval, μ is the mean of data.

Uncertainty Assessment

100

.%952/1

IwidthC

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Emission Factors for 12 Major Tree

Species

Emission Factor Estimation and Uncertainty

Analysis

▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ Values

Species

Wood Density (WD) Biomass Expansion

Factor (BEF)

Root-to-Shoot Ratio

(R)

Value Uncertainty

(%)

Value Uncertainty

(%)

Value Uncertainty

(%)

Pinus densiflora

(Gangwon) 0.40 12.99 1.47 7.89 0.25 19.99

Pinus densiflora

(Central) 0.47 3.80 1.40 5.89 0.25 9.18

Pinus rigida 0.51 4.38 1.39 6.86 0.43 38.36

Pinus koreansis 0.41 8.20 1.85 10.99 0.25 12.25

Pinus thumbergii 0.48 5.73 1.43 12.69 0.31 23.83

Chamaecypris obtusa 0.43 3.59 1.40 11.49 0.21 39.93

Larix kaempferi 0.45 6.34 1.32 6.54 0.28 18.26

Cryptomeria japonica 0.35 3.50 1.31 6.44 0.25 13.50

Emission Factors and Uncertainty for

Coniferous Species

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Values

Species

Wood Density (WD) Biomass Expansion

Factor (BEF)

Root-to-Shoot Ratio

(R)

Value Uncertainty

(%)

Value Uncertainty

(%)

Value Uncertainty

(%)

Quercus variabilis 0.72 1.66 1.33 3.53 0.33 12.77

Quercus acutissima 0.70 2.59 1.43 5.48 0.32 36.62

Quecus mongolica 0.66 3.33 1.50 5.86 0.35 19.34

Populus

tornentiglandulsa 0.36 7.53 1.18 6.70 0.16 8.83

Emission Factors and Uncertainty for

Broadleave Species

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Emission Factors by Age Class

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Is it necessary to divide the emission

factors by age class?

IPCC Guidelines (2006) recommended

≤ 20 years, >20 years

- We will explore this question with Pinus

densiflora -

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Pinus densiflora (Gangwon)

Plot No. of Tree Age

(years)

DBH

(cm)

Height

(m)

12 60

(24) 36.2 25.2 15.0

Plot No. of Tree Age

(years)

DBH

(cm)

Height

(m)

30 150

(70) 37.4 17.8 11.8

Pinus densiflora (Central)

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Species Factor Variance t value P-value

Pinus densiflora

(Gangwon)

WD Unequal -1.56 0.1375

BEF Equal 5.04 < 0.0001

Pinus densiflora

(Central)

WD Unequal -1.37 0.1829

BEF equal 5.57 < 0.0001

p < 0.05; H0 : μ1=μ2; Ha : μ1≠μ2 is significantly.

Should We Divide Emission Factors by Age

Class?

t-test is conducted to compare WD/BEF between two age

groups (≤ 20 year-old and > 20 year-old),

Age class division is: not necessary for WD, necessary for BEF.

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Emission Factors vs. Age

There is no obvious relationship

between WD and Age.

BEF ≤ 20 year-old seems higher

than BEF > 20 year-old.

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Discussions

Estimated WD and BEF are acceptable (uncertainty

< 30%)

But further research is needed for reducing

uncertainty(especially for Root shoot ratio).

- There are multiple causes of uncertainty:

ㆍ small sample size,

ㆍ relatively large variance,

ㆍ masurement error.

- Strategies to reduce uncertainty are:

ㆍ additional survey,

ㆍ precise measurement.

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Speices Net removals

(1,000tC/yr) Species

Net removals

(1,000tC/yr)

Pinus densiflora

(Gangwon) 1,189 Quercus acutissima 270

Pinus densiflora

(Central) 3,752 Quercus variabilis 1,150

Pinus koraiensis 339 Quercus mongolica 1,746

Larix kaemferi 686 Poplus tornentiglandulas 13

Pinus rigida 700 Other conifer 798

Pinus thunbergii 463 Other broad-leaf 6,788

Chamaecyparis obtusa 47

Cryptomeria japonica 101 Total 18,041

Application of Emission Factors

Based on Korea National Forest Inventory (NFI),

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To extend to other sectors

- bamboo forest, urban forest

To establish comprehensive forest biomass database

in Korea.

To construct country-specipic EFDB in forest sector.

To establish and conduct a QA/QC and verification

method.

Ongoing / Further Study

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Thank you for your attention