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Different methods to investigate the efficiency of alternative contracts for carbon sequestration in cropland soils are discussed, taking into account the spatial heterogeneity of agricultural production systems and the costs of implementing more efficient contracts.

Research on next generation agricultural systems models shows that the most important current limitation is data, both for on-farm decision support and for research investment and policy decision making. One of the greatest data challenges is to obtain reliable data on farm management decision making, both for current conditions and under scenarios of changed bio-physical and socio-economic conditions. This paper presents a framework for the use of farm-level and landscape-scale models and data to provide analysis that could be used in NextGen knowledge products, such as mobile applications or personal computer data analysis and visualization software. We describe two analytical tools - AgBiz Logic and TOA-MD - that demonstrate the current capability of farmlevel and landscape-scale models. The use of these tools is explored with a case study of an oilseed crop, Camelina sativa , which could be used to produce jet aviation fuel. We conclude with a discussion of innovations needed to facilitate the use of farm and policy-level models to generate data and analysis for improved knowledge products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Geological sequestration offers long term storage opportunities that differ in terms of technical capacity and characteristics, and in terms of economic costs and benefits. In this paper we outline a simple economic framework that reflects the planning problem for sequestering CO2 in alternative geological sinks and highlights the differences in the environmental risks and the economic costs of alternative sinks. The marginal costs of alternative geological sequestration options must be compared to measures of marginal benefits that take into account the probability of local and global environmental risks and other regulatory requirements. We direct our discussion of an application of this framework to the case of geological sequestration in deep-sea basalts and provide an initial assessment of how this framework could be implemented to quantify the long-term economic costs relative to other continental geological storage options. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]