The influence of CO2 mitigation incentives on profitability of eucalyptus production on clay settling areas in Florida

Fast growing, short-rotation tree crops provide unique opportunities to sequester carbon on phosphate-mined lands in central Florida and, if used as a biofuel, can reduce CO2 emissions associated with electricity generation. Base case land expectation values (LEVs) of phosphate-mined land under Eucalyptus amplifolia (EA) forestry range from 762 to 6507 $ ha−1 assuming real discount rates of 10% and 4%, respectively. Assuming 5 $ Mg−1 C, these LEVs increase from 3% to 24% with incentives for in situ carbon sequestration benefits, or 21% to 73% given in situ carbon sequestration with additional incentives for reducing CO2 emissions through the use of EA as an energy feedstock. Potential benefits from below-ground C sequestration and mine land reclamation are estimated to be worth an additional 5642–11,056 $ ha−1.