Evaluation of the land use changes effect on carbon fluxes and carbon stock for the case of Lombardy region

Land use changes affect the amount of carbon sequestered in biomass and soil, by releasing carbon dioxide to, or removing it from, the atmosphere. The degree of those effects depends on the initial and final land-use. Four broad categories and conversions from one of them to another are examined in this study: forest, cropland, grassland and settlement, or urbanized area. And within last category four different scenarios are evaluated: two of them demonstrate the option of low-density settlement while other two represent high-density options. For each land-use category carbon fluxes and stocks were defined in order to determine carbon losses (or vice versa) caused by conversion of the land from one land-use category to another on the territory of Lombardy region. It was followed by evaluation of energy consumption and carbon emissions related to the buildings’ construction and its use for the each of four scenarios of the settlement which allowed comparing different forms of settlement as a starting point for further, more refined analysis as a tool for decision making in urban planning with respect to the principles of sustainability.