State/County-Level GHG Mitigation on Agricultural Lands

Our research team at NREL is among the world leaders in research on soil C dynamics and modeling. The team has pioneered an approach for Phase I: State Level Assessments and Phase II: County Level Assessments of current and potential soil C changes, using a combination of resources databases, geographic information systems (GIS), ecosystem simulation modeling, field experiments and soil measurements. A key feature of the assessment technology is the Century model, developed at NREL over the past 20 years, widely acknowledged as one of the most widely used and advanced models of soil C dynamics in the world. Our objective is to develop an integrated system for quantifying current and future potential of C sequestration on the agricultural lands of the U.S. and to make this system and the analysis capabilities available to land managers.