Vermont Integrated Land Use and Transportation Carbon Estimator
Abstract
Land conversion to developed use is associated with changes in land-based fluxes of carbon (C). Changes in vehicular transportation to and from the new development may also result in additional emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and regional C sequestration rates from published literature were used to create a software tool, the Vermont Integrated Land-use and Transportation Carbon Estimator (VILTCE), meant for use with widely used commercial geographic information systems software (ESRI ArcGIS using .NET). The tool is intended for metropolitan planning organizations and regional planners to calculate the spatial C sequestration and emissions from the combined land use and transportation sectors for their region of interest under current and future development scenarios. For illustration, the VILTCE was applied to Chittenden County, Vermont, as a case study. Under current conditions, the county's soils and biomass for all land types are estimated to sequester approximately 23,500 and 184,000 Mg C per year, respectively. The transportation sector results in approximately 217,800 Mg C (797,900 Mg CO2) emitted per year. Overall, Chittenden County is a C source (net release of C), emitting 37,700 Mg CO2 annually, even without taking electricity and heating into account, which would add even more anthropogenically caused emissions. The gap between C emitted and stored could increase with additional development.
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Article first published online: January 1, 2010
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