Author Description

This report identifies all components of the cost estimates for carbon sequestration through afforestation. They have five distinguishing features: (1) they estimate costs for each county in the contiguous U.S.; (2) they include afforestation of rangeland, in addition to cropland and pasture; (3) the opportunity cost estimates account for capitalized returns to future development (including associated option values) in addition to returns to agricultural production; (4) they develop a new set of forest establishment costs for each county; and (5) they incorporate data on Holdridge life zones to limit afforestation in locations where temperature and moisture availability prohibit forest growth. The authors find that at a carbon price of $50/ton, approx. 200 million tons of carbon would be sequestered annually through afforestation. At a price of $100/ton, an additional 100 million tons of carbon would be sequestered each year. Figures. This is a print on demand report.