Evaluating the energy and the carbon stored from tropical acacias: the first steps

Abstract

Because of their relevance as a source of energy as woodfuel, carbon storage capacity and their environmental characteristics in ecosystems, tropical leguminous trees are suitable for their management on plantations to produce biomass for energy or carbon sequestration for climate change mitigation. The main purpose of this paper is to present the results of a research project to develop a methodology to estimate the energy content and the carbon sequestered in the above ground biomass of trees in plantations of Acacia cochliacantha and Acacia pennatula, two leguminous tree species of the tropical dry forest of Mexico and Central America. To do this the heating value and carbon content of wood data were integrated to transform allometric equations into energy and carbon sequestered equations. These equations, once supplemented with further experimental data could be very useful in calculating energy content and carbon sequestration to enhance the economics and sustainable management of these energy plantations.