I talked to Chuck Anderson, vice president of ecomarket development for venture-backed ImageTree Corp. this week. He reports interest in forest carbon issues was keen at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in December at Poznan, Poland. All sessions covering the topic were full as delegates grappled with proposals to create a carbon market for forests.

With the U.S. not signing on to the Kyoto Protocol, we tend not to pay close attention to the developments around the globe to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With a new administration in Washington, D.C., many are predicting that will change. If it does, more in the U.S. will find themselves following the details of such schemes as the U.N.'s Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. Aimed at finding a workable incentive to encourage nations with tropical rainforests to reverse deforestation trends, it may also encourage forest carbon sequestration projects in North America.

ImageTree has developed a system to analyze satellite imagery combined with LiDAR data at a high resolution. LiDAR technology uses laser-technology to provide a three dimensional view of a forest, allowing an analysis of the biomass underneath the canopy. Marry LiDAR with other remote sensing imagery, ground truthing and sophisticated computer analysis, one can begin to inventory large tracts of forests with amazing resolution.

Anderson said they started deploying their technology to help North American industries inventory their forest resources. They've got a project going in Panama to help inventory that country's tropical rainforest. Panama hopes to be the first nation to cash in on carbon credits for improving their carbon sequestration. Anderson says the woody biomass industry might also find their technology useful for quickly surveying the available biomass in a given region.