11 results for tag: carbon sequestration


How to Lock Carbon in the Soil Permanently

Prof. Wolfram Buss of Australian National University Large-scale carbon sequestration is a significant challenge, especially when considering competition for land and resources among different techniques. In this article we report the findings of Buss et al.[4] concerning the synergistic interactions between techniques and soil processes and how they can enhance carbon sequestration potential. The study aims to identify limitations, assess interactions, and define strategies for integrating these methods into agro-ecosystems for large-scale carbon sequestration. Human-induced climate change is already causing severe effects on the environment, ...

Investing In Our Global Future: UKRI funds enhanced rock weathering research

The awesome power of rock dust will be on full display in Glasgow, Nov. 1-12, during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Scotland’s largest city is hosting this year’s global summit, which assesses the urgency of the climate crisis and establishes legally-binding legislation for developed nations to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In preparation, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is spending US$43.8 million on demonstrator projects investigating GHG removal by enhanced rock weathering (ERW), biochar, afforestation, bioenergy crops, and peatland restoration. David Beerling, professor of Natural Sciences at ...

XPrize Foundation to Award $100M for Climate Change Solutions

Earth Day 2021 will herald the beginning of the most ambitious XPrize yet, and this time, the target is climate change. The XPrize Foundation was founded in 1994 with the mission to explore new frontiers, unleash human potential, and secure a healthy planet. This year’s contest is no exception. Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation have offered $100M, the largest incentive in XPrize history, for the teams demonstrating the most effective carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies. The $100M will be split across multiple prizes: three top prizes of $50M, $20M, and $10M, followed by 15 prizes of $1M each, as well as 25 scholarships for $200,000. Carbon ...

New UC Davis Center Paves the Way for Rock Dust Research

If the world were to judge soil remineralization based on what could happen, rock dust amendments might already be standard procedure for the world’s farmers. The potential to use rock dust as a carbon storage tactic for climate change mitigation is well known in the scientific community, in addition to its ability to improve agricultural yields and soil health. Benefits like these are enough to make any policymaker or farmer at least consider the use of soil amendment programs, but expectations alone are not adequate to persuade any party to go “all in.” Stakeholders include farmers, ranchers, politicians, business owners, and everyday ...

Get Real: David Munson, Jr. Wants Realistic Solutions to Climate Change

David Munson, a Dallas-based philanthropist, has formed the Get Real Alliance to pursue “realistic solutions” to climate change and other global issues. Rock dust and biochar play a central role. He lays out the ideas behind this alliance in his upcoming book, “Get Real: A Positive Solution to Climate Change.” In particular, he advocates for an increased focus on carbon sequestration in addition to carbon emissions, for a couple of reasons. First, he judges emission reduction to be difficult to achieve, and thus likely insufficient. Second, reducing carbon emissions reduces harm but doesn’t add anything positive. On the other hand, carbon ...

Rock Powder with Biochar: Synergies & Co-Benefits

Rock powder and Biochar are two of the most powerful tools for reversing climate change, especially when used together! Tom Goreau explains the synergies and co-benefits. (Originally published by Global Carbon Alliance.) Biochar and rock powders can provide major, cost-effective, atmospheric CO2 sinks to reverse climate change through nature-based solutions, or planetary BioGeoTherapy. These methods produce major synergies and co-benefits when practiced together, but the benefits of each method have been measured in isolation, without positive feedback from combination. The most effective use of each material is mixed together with the other in ...

University of California receives $4.7M to Study Carbon Sequestration with Rock Dust, Compost and Biochar

An exciting new consortium led by the University of California, Davis, and the UC Working Lands Innovation Center is setting out to find new ways of taking excess carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere using Nature’s best resource — soil. The multipartner consortium has received a $4.7 million grant from California’s Strategic Growth Council to research and study the use of soil amendments in carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration is the process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it as a fixed molecule in a carbon sink, such as soil, oceans or plants. While this happens naturally, human advancements in agriculture and ...

Documenting Reasons for Optimism: Mitigating Climate Change through Soil Restoration

It is important to document reasons for optimism, focusing on the future we want to achieve. Several trends, in particular trends regarding soil regeneration, support optimism about the environment. We need to build upon these positive trends, while resisting the negative ones. For years while I was in Geneva, Switzerland, I published and edited the Worldwatch Institute’s World Watch magazine and annual State of the World report. Worldwatch was founded by Lester Brown, who also founded the Earth Policy Institute, and it has done a remarkable job monitoring the environmental crisis and promoting solutions to it. It promoted ...

Inspiring Documentary Features Geotherapy – Dirt Rich empowers viewers to participate in solutions to reverse runaway global warming

  Dirt Rich, a new documentary by filmmaker Marcelina Cravat about geotherapy and regenerative agriculture, now has an official trailer and is making the rounds of film festivals. The film is narrated by actor Gregory Cruz and features music by Tom Rhodes. It has appeared in film festivals, including at the Green Film Fest in San Francisco, and will contribute to raising awareness of remineralization. The filmmaking team of the award winning environmental documentary, Angel Azul, is about to release Dirt Rich, a creative and ambitious first of its kind documentary as it comprehensively shifts focus on the topic of global ...

Geotherapy: Can the Anthropocene Have a Second Restorative Phase?

  As proponents of remineralization since the  mid 1980s, we at Remineralize the Earth include ourselves as pioneers of regenerative agriculture. Dr. Tom Goreau always advocates on behalf of a combination of biochar and remineralization as part of a geotherapy strategy to sequester carbon and stabilize the climate. Joanna Campe   Super stable in terms of temperatures, the holocene era has allowed human civilizations to thrive for the last 10,000 years. But humanity’s massive greenhouse gas emissions, due in large part to agriculture and the industrial revolution, are threatening our own survival. Since the nineteen fifties, ...