Scope and Mission
Scope
The overarching goal of the Carbon Resources Science Center (CRSC) is to support the development and evaluation of forestry and agricultural technologies and policies to reduce the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration. Global CO2 concentration has increased over 30% since the start of the industrial revolution, resulting in the largest human-caused alteration of atmospheric chemistry in history. Governments worldwide are committed to mitigating rising atmospheric CO2 through programs, such as cap-and-trade, designed to reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and enhance biological uptake and storage of CO2 by natural and managed ecosystems.
Forest ecosystems will be critical to these carbon offset programs; for example, annual uptake and storage of CO2 by forests already offsets 11 to16% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and greater potential for more carbon mitigation exists. Agricultural production systems are currently a net source of greenhouse gases in the United States, but existing and emerging technologies can be applied to greatly reduce the carbon footprint of our food and fiber production systems.
The University of Florida has significant scientific expertise in the areas of carbon sequestration and carbon resource management in forest, agricultural, wetland and aquatic ecosystems, with disciplinary focus ranging from ecology to biogeochemistry to economics to human dimensions.
Mission
The mission of the Carbon Resources Science Center is to bring these experts together to work synergistically on common problems, to leverage new sources of research funding, and to serve as an objective, well-regarded source of rigorous information on carbon resources science for stakeholders.
Potential areas of research for the CRSC include:
- Developing optimum forest management regimes for sequestering carbon in the southeastern United States (e.g., rotation length, thinning, prescribed fire)
- Discovering technologies for decreasing carbon emissions from agricultural production systems in the region (e.g., conservation tillage, manure biogas production, pasture management)
- Evaluating agricultural and forest management systems to produce carbon-neutral biofuels to substitute for fossil fuels
- Creating efficient methodologies for cost effective implementation of cap-and-trade systems
- Conducting life-cycle analyses with full-cost accounting of alternative policies, incentives and management regimes for biofuels, carbon offset systems and cap-and trade programs.
Startup funding for the CRSC is provided by the IFAS Dean for Research office, and the School of Forest Resources and Conservation.
