Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

Valuing temporary carbon storage

Nature Climate Change volume 2, pages 6–8 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Temporary carbon-sequestration and carbon-storage projects help offset fossil-fuel carbon emissions, but how effective are they?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Temporary carbon storage assessed with the Lashof method12.

References

  1. Korhonen, R. et al. Environ. Sci. Policy 5, 429–441 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kirschbaum, M. U. F. Mitig. Adapt. Strat. Glob. Change 11, 1151–1164 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Noble, I. & Scholes, R. J. Clim. Policy 1, 5–25 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Dornburg, V. & Marland, G. Mitig. Adapt. Strat. Glob. Change 13, 211–217 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. British Standards Institution Specification for the Assessment of the Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Goods and Services PAS 2050 (BSI, 2008).

  6. AFNOR General Principles for an Environmental Communication on Mass Market Products (AFNOR, 2009).

  7. European Commission/Joint Research Centre/Institute for Environment and Sustainability International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook: General Guide for Life Cycle Assessment — Detailed Guidance (European Union, 2010).

  8. Brandão, M. & Levasseur, A. Assessing Temporary Carbon Storage in Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprinting: Outcomes of an Expert Workshop (European Union, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

  9. IPCC Climate Change: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Scientific Assessment (eds Houghton, J. T., Jenkins, G. J. & Ephraums, J. J.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990).

  10. Shine, K. P. et al. Climatic Change 68, 281–302 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Moura-Costa, P. & Wilson, C. Mitig. Adapt. Strat. Glob. Change 5, 51–60 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Fearnside, P. M., Lashof, D. A. & Moura-Costa, P. Mitig. Adapt. Strat. Glob. Change 5, 239–270 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Clift, R. & Brandão, M. Carbon Storage and Timing of Emissions (Univ. Surrey, 2008).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Shine, K. P. Climatic Change 96, 467–472 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Fearnside, P. M. Mitig. Adapt. Strat. Glob. Change 7, 19–30 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

A.L., P.L., M.M. and R.S. acknowledge the financial support of the International Chair in Life Cycle Assessment partners. M.B. acknowledges the financial support of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, CIRAIG, École Polytechnique de Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, stn. Centre-ville, Montréal, H3C 3A7, Québec, Canada

    Annie Levasseur, Pascal Lesage & Réjean Samson

  2. Sustainability Assessment Unit, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra (VA), Italy

    Miguel Brandão & David Pennington

  3. Centre for Environmental Strategy, School of Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, Surrey, UK

    Miguel Brandão & Roland Clift

  4. Department of Mathematical and Industrial Engineering, CIRAIG, École Polytechnique de Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, stn. Centre-ville, Montréal, H3C 3A7, Québec, Canada

    Manuele Margni

Authors
  1. Annie Levasseur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Miguel Brandão
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pascal Lesage
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Manuele Margni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. David Pennington
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Roland Clift
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Réjean Samson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Annie Levasseur.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Levasseur, A., Brandão, M., Lesage, P. et al. Valuing temporary carbon storage. Nature Clim Change 2, 6–8 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1335

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1335

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing