The greenhouse effect - conclusions for agricultural-, energy- and tax policies

The possibility to use forests as carbon sinks to reduce the greenhouse effect is discussed in this report. In the medium time perspective (30-50 years), reforestation in order to create new carbon sinks will give extra time for the transition from fossil fuels. Furthermore, the reforestation may be valuable as future fuel. Sweden has good possibilities for assisting developing countries in a reforestation effort. Swedish wood reserves will probably have to be used extensively for heat and power production during the same period, due to the planned phasing out of nuclear power. Economic and climatic arguments for subsidizing short rotation energy crops on agricultural land are discussed and, largely, refuted. 51 refs