Land Clearing Carbon Sequestration Calculation and Mitigation
Trees act as giant air filters, breathing in and removing carbon dioxide from the air, and storing it in their trunks, branches, leaves as well as releasing oxygen. The longer a tree lives, the more carbon it accumulates. While some carbon is released back into the earth’s atmosphere when trees die and decompose, healthy forests hold onto much of the accumulated carbon, including in its soils.
As the awareness around the loss of carbon sequestration due to development increases, Epsilon Associates’ Planning Group has observed that regulators are requesting that development projects quantify their land carbon impacts relative to tree clearing and land disturbance.
New England states are especially carbon dense. The removal of trees is of special interest to regulatory authorities whose mandate includes preserving stored carbon sequestration sources.
Epsilon’s experts can calculate your development’s land carbon impacts, as well as demonstrate the benefits of planned mitigation designs. Working with the State of Massachusetts, we have successfully developed a methodology that utilizes state-specific resources and a robust understanding of the carbon accounting associated with land development to analyze and quantify a site’s existing carbon stores, a project’s carbon impact, and estimate future carbon sequestration. Using these calculations, we are also able to contextualize the estimated benefits of a Proponent’s mitigation plans in official responses.
By delivering accepted, credible, and informative analyses of projects’ carbon impacts, Epsilon supports the successful approval of development projects.
About the Expert
Alex Brooks, CEM, Senior Engineer is a mechanical engineer and Certified Energy Manager with a background in energy and building systems. He has nearly 10 years of experience as a development and project engineer within the construction industry. Alex helps clients with energy efficiency and infrastructure improvements. He leads detailed energy audits and infrastructure surveys encompassing building systems and analyzes facility energy use. Mr. Brooks provides sustainability and climate change services to our clients, assisting them as they address greenhouse gas reduction and carbon neutrality on their projects.