Table of Contents

Agriculture's Role in Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Foreword        ii

Executive Summary        iii

I. Introduction        1

II. Mitigation Opportunities: Increased Sinks and Reduced Emissions        7

A. Opportunities to Increase Soil Carbon        7
B. Reducing Agricultural Nitrous Oxide and Methane Emissions        14
C. Measurement, Modeling, and Information Needs        18
D. Additional Benefits of Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Mitigation        23
E. Summary and Policy Implications        24

III. Economic Feasibility of Agricultural Carbon Sequestration        26

A. Economic Studies of Carbon Sequestration        26
B. Factors Other than Opportunity Costs        34
C. Summary and Policy Implications 38

IV. Bioenergy From Agricultural Lands 40

A. Agricultural Bioenergy’s Potential to Displace Fossil Energy 42
B. Bioenergy’s Impact on Greenhouse Gas Emissions 54
C. Summary and Policy Implications 56

V. Summary and Conclusions 58

Appendix A 63

References 64

Endnotes 73