21 May 2020 Reducing emissions or sequestering carbon?
On the occasion of the start of the processing of the Climate Change and Energy Transition Act, in EDAFOTEC we would like to make the following comments. To limit global warming below catastrophic levels, significant reductions in emissions are essential but no sufficient.
We must also capture and safely store billions of tons of CO2 in the next decades. To do that we will need carbon sinks. Carbon sinks are fundamentally different from emission reductions.
Today’s easily available, scalable nature-based technologies include
– Carbon forestry
– Soil Organic carbon
– Biochar
Few carbon markets and governments today distinguish carbon sinks from emission reduction projects (e.g. renewable energy). In addition, existing schemes are often vague about the longevity of carbon sequestration. Many of the existing markets are currently over-supplied and require additionality, which is relevant in the world of offsets, but not for negative emission technologies (NET), such as biocoals.
EDAFOTEC, has been seeking to apply long-lasting carbon sequestered biochar in its soil and water remediation projects since its foundation. Made from forest biomass residues and other plant waste, such as rice bran or sugar cane residues. These biochars are added as a component of our artificial soils, to other residues, which used in this way contribute to the immobilization of the carbon present in them.
Image Source: Simon Dooley