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Since 1990, scientists at ESSA Technologies Ltd have been developing and using quantitative tools to model forest carbon.
On behalf of Natural Resources Canada, ESSA designed and led the development of a national forest carbon accounting model, the CBM-CFS2, that models and tracks carbon in living trees (including the roots), soil, and dead organic matter. The model accounts for changes in carbon due to growth, natural turnover, management, fire, and large-scale disturbances. Recently the ability to simulate deforestation and afforestation has been added to version 3 of the model. The model is now maintained by the Canadian Forest Service and serves as Canada’s principal forest carbon accounting model.
ESSA’s scientists continue to use and apply the Carbon Budget Model at scales ranging from the stand to the entire country. We have used the model to investigate and address a variety of GHG and forest policy issues, such as the carbon implication of changes in disturbance types (e.g., from natural disturbances to management), disturbance levels (e.g., increases in mountain pine beetle, spruce budworm outbreaks, and area burned), and changes in growth and decomposition rates arising from changes in climate. We have also performed both retrospective (1920-1990) and prospective (1990-2032) analyses. We remain the leading experts in the use of the model outside the Canadian Forestry Service.
ESSA also led the development of the Forest Products Sector model that tracks carbon in wood products from the point at which carbon leaves the forest, through processing and end-use, and finally into landfills. It simulates different types of wood and pulp processing, recycling, energy production and use, and landfill dynamics. The Forest Products Sector model provides the ability to quantify and study the impacts of past, present and potential future changes to the management of carbon in harvested wood products. Using the model, the implications of changes in processing efficiency can be explored, in addition to changes in recycling practices and the use of biofuels. Although not yet available for general use, this model is currently used to perform analyses for the Canadian Forest Service and is maintained and regularly enhanced by ESSA.
In addition to these two models, ESSA recently worked with the USDA Forest Service to develop a carbon accounting module for the Fire and Fuels Extension (FFE) to the Forest Vegetation Simulator, a stand- and landscape-level forest growth model used across the US at federal and state levels. We have also worked with forest companies (notably Weyerhaeuser) to develop carbon accounting models that can work with their in-proprietary growth and management models.
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