Cut CO2 Emission via -Renewable soil
Cut CO2 Emission via -Renewable soil
Improved farming methods could quickly rebuild degraded land and store enough carbon to offset the emissions caused by burning fossil fuels. Thomas Blakeslee, President, The Clearlight Foundation, outlines some approaches to capturing CO2 in soils.
Poor farming practices have degraded the world's soils causing them to release carbon that should have stayed in the soil. In the past 150 years soils have released twice as much carbon as fuel burning. Dr Rattan Lal of Ohio State University, a leading expert on soil carbon, estimates that the potential of economical carbon sequestration in world soils may be .65 billion to 1.1 billion tons per year for the next 50 years. This is enough to draw down atmospheric CO2 by 50 ppm by 2100.
Many of our deserts started as forests which were cut or burned down to clear the land and then ruined by overgrazing. If we could reclaim these ruined lands we could restore the carbon balance of our planet.
One very encouraging project in China has restored a desert community and given them a source of revenue growing sand willow for making wood planks. This experiment was so successful that the restored area is growing rapidly as individuals plant sand willow as a source of income. Even more exciting, is the plan to build hybrid solar power plants in the area that will use the sand willow as biomass to feed boilers when the sun doesn't shine.
Carbon credits could drive this kind of renaissance even faster. It is very important that we develop inexpensive soil carbon monitoring systems so that such important changes in land use can be rewarded.
Restoration experiments in Australia found that conventional cropping practices had reduced soil carbon to half to one third of original levels.
Another promising approach to greening deserts is seawater farming. Coastal desert areas lacking fresh water can grow plants like Mangrove and Salicornia along with fish and shrimp that provide the fertilizer.
Carbon trading could be the driver for these projects if we can only develop sound verification protocols and measuring instruments.
more
Labels: carbon credits- renewable soil
http://renewablesoil.com/increased-photosynthetic-capacity-reverses-global-warming.html
Improved farming methods could quickly rebuild degraded land and store enough carbon to offset the emissions caused by burning fossil fuels. Thomas Blakeslee, President, The Clearlight Foundation, outlines some approaches to capturing CO2 in soils.
Poor farming practices have degraded the world's soils causing them to release carbon that should have stayed in the soil. In the past 150 years soils have released twice as much carbon as fuel burning. Dr Rattan Lal of Ohio State University, a leading expert on soil carbon, estimates that the potential of economical carbon sequestration in world soils may be .65 billion to 1.1 billion tons per year for the next 50 years. This is enough to draw down atmospheric CO2 by 50 ppm by 2100.
Many of our deserts started as forests which were cut or burned down to clear the land and then ruined by overgrazing. If we could reclaim these ruined lands we could restore the carbon balance of our planet.
One very encouraging project in China has restored a desert community and given them a source of revenue growing sand willow for making wood planks. This experiment was so successful that the restored area is growing rapidly as individuals plant sand willow as a source of income. Even more exciting, is the plan to build hybrid solar power plants in the area that will use the sand willow as biomass to feed boilers when the sun doesn't shine.
Carbon credits could drive this kind of renaissance even faster. It is very important that we develop inexpensive soil carbon monitoring systems so that such important changes in land use can be rewarded.
Restoration experiments in Australia found that conventional cropping practices had reduced soil carbon to half to one third of original levels.
Another promising approach to greening deserts is seawater farming. Coastal desert areas lacking fresh water can grow plants like Mangrove and Salicornia along with fish and shrimp that provide the fertilizer.
Carbon trading could be the driver for these projects if we can only develop sound verification protocols and measuring instruments.
more
Labels: carbon credits- renewable soil
http://renewablesoil.com/increased-photosynthetic-capacity-reverses-global-warming.html
Labels: Cut CO2 Emission via -Renewable soil, seawater farming, soil carbon monitoring systems
posted by powerplantccs at
7:06 PM
3 Comments:
Imagine if we had a process to remove billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere safely, quickly and cost-effectively - while at the same time building soil, reversing desertification, boosting biodiversity, enhancing global food security and improving the lives of hundreds of millions of people in rural and regional areas around our planet?
We do - it's called changed grazing management and soil carbon.
Please take a look at the presentations on http://www.soilcarbon.com.au/ to learn more.
I’m thrilled. Really I am. I just wish we could start holding people responsible for their carbon footprint the same way we do industries. Offset services exist for all different types of people. It makes it really easy. Thing is it’s so easy to make an impact as an individual. Hopefully people start to use these and other services to live carbon neutral.
The UN’s decision coincides with the release of a USDA report that analyzes the impact of the U.S. climate legislation, which reduces greenhouse gases and implements a cap-and-trade program.
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