Soil carbon (C) sequestration in one of three main approaches to carbon dioxide removal and storage through management of terrestrial ecosystems. Soil C sequestration relies of the adoption of improved management practices that increase the amount of carbon stored as soil organic matter, primarily in cropland and grazing lands. These C sequestering practices act by increasing the rate of input of plant-derived residues to soils and/or by reducing the rates of turnover of organic C stocks already in the soil. In addition to carbon dioxide removal potential, increases in soil organic matter/soil C content are highly beneficial from the standpoint of soil health and soil fertility Practices to increase soil C stocks include well-known, proven techniques or “best management practices” (BMP) for building soil carbon. A second category includes what we refer to as frontier technologies for which significant technological and/or economic barriers exist today, but for which further R&D and/or economic incentives might offer the potential for greater sequestration over the longer term. We reviewed published estimates of global soil carbon sequestration potential, representing the biophysical potential for managed cropland and/or grassland systems to store additional carbon assuming widespread (near complete) adoption of BMPs. The majority of studies suggests that 4 to 5 GtCO2/y as an upper limit for global biophysical potential with near complete adoption of BMPs. In the longer-term, if frontier technologies are successfully deployed, the global estimate might grow to 8 GtCO2/y. There is a strong scientific basis for managing agricultural soils to act as a significant carbon (C) sink over the next several decades. A two-stage strategy, to first incentivize adoption of well developed, conventional soil C sequestering practices, while investing in R&D on new frontier technologies that could come on-line in the next 2-3 decades, could maximize benefits. Implementation of such policies will require robust, scientifically-sound measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems to track that policy goals are being met and that claimed increases in soil C stocks are real.
Carbon Removal Technologies | YC Request for Startups
Climate change presents an existential threat to humanity. We are already seeing the effects and they are showing up faster and stronger than anticipated. A report by United Nations' scientific panel on climate change released this month expects the atmosphere-on our current trajectory-to warm up by 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2040. Even the effects of a 0.5 degrees increase will have far-reaching consequences. This research indicates that we are already past the tipping point; even if we significantly reduced emissions, climate change would continue (Source IPCC summary C3 section). We believe there's still time to make a change if we look both to renewal energy and CO2 removal.
A social-ecological framework for analyzing and designing integrated crop–livestock systems from farm to territory levels
Integrated crop–livestock systems are often considered a promising way to address agricultural sustainability issues. Many authors claim that complementarities and synergies between crops and livestock can improve nutrient cycling and delivery of ecosystem services (ES) in agricultural systems. They have analyzed effects of interactions at the farm level and affirmed the potential advantage of developing crop–livestock interactions at the territory level. However, potential benefits of developing synergies beyond the farm level have not been clearly identified. Thus, we developed a conceptual framework that can be used to analyze, design and perform integrated assessment of crop–livestock systems at the territory level. To address crop–livestock interaction issues, we define it as a social-ecological system called the territorial crop–livestock system (TCLS). The ecological system is represented as three interacting components, crops, grasslands and animals, allowing description of various land uses and their potential effects on nutrient cycling and ES. The social system, represented as farmers interacting with natural-resource managers and agro-food chain actors, determines land use and the nature and intensity of ES delivered. We highlight the importance of coordination and learning among actors to support implementation of complex adaptive systems such as TCLSs. We illustrate the expressive power of our conceptual framework through development of a generic typology of crop–livestock systems. Then we show how our conceptual framework can be used as an intermediary object with stakeholders in participatory design approaches. We illustrate this process by representing four archetypal TCLSs. We provide an example of the design approach implemented in Southwestern France to address severe recurrent water shortages, which includes analysis of land use in the current crop–livestock system and the associated key metabolic and ES issues, identification of options for change and multi-criteria analysis of these options. We conclude that this framework shows great potential to support development of sustainable farming systems at the territory level.
Global Carbon Budget Means Canada’s Fossil Fuels a Risky Investment | The Narwhal
In its latest report the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gave global greenhouse gas emissions a worldwide limit, know as the global
Carbon Captured
How the fossil fuel industry turned the plan to solve climate change into a plan to save itself
‘Soil is more important than oil’: inside the perennial grain revolution
Scientists in Kansas believe Kernza could cut emissions, restore degraded soils and reshape the future of agriculture
Soil Assembly
Soil Assembly brings together diverse communities working across ecology, culture, agriculture, research, and collective practice. We invite practitioners, learners, and communities to contribute to a growing network rooted in living soil, regenerative thinking, and shared ecological futures.
Carbon Tariffs 101
We evaluate the economic and environmental consequences of taxes on imported goods based on their carbon content. The analysis uses the simplest possible partial equilibrium framework, with one small open economy and a global pollution externality. It relies on graphs of supply and demand, rather than equations or formulas, hoping to reach readers familiar with basic economics. Despite its simplicity, the framework imparts numerous lessons. (1) Absent a domestic price on carbon, a carbon tariff imposes the same costs on domestic consumers as a domestic carbon price, but a carbon tariff also subsidizes domestic pollution. (2) If one small country imposes a carbon tariff, with or without a domestic carbon tax, the economic incidence of the tariff falls on its consumers. (3) If a holdout country joins the rest of the world by enacting its own carbon regulation and consequently imports more from other countries, those increased imports are not “leakage.” They are the cessation of leakage from when the holdout country’s policy was lax. And (4) if other countries do not appropriately regulate emissions, no single small country can use a combination of carbon taxes and carbon tariffs to fully correct the problem caused by its consumers or producers.
Vivian Kaloxilos - Introduction to Living Soils - LSSM 2017
Why China and Europe should collaborate to ‘defossilize’ the world’s carbon
The world needs non-fossil sources of carbon. It’s a no-brainer for nations working towards this goal to join forces.
NPSBC
Encouraging knowledge, appreciation, responsible use & conservation of BC's native plants and habitats
GainForest — Fund Regenerative Impact
GainForest connects funders with nature stewards doing on-ground regenerative work. Fund verified environmental impact directly.
Key Principles for the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Panel on Chemicals and Waste
In 2021, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized chemical pollution as a planetary crisis tantamount to climate change and biodiversity
SCI — Software Carbon Intensity | Green Software Foundation
The global standard for calculating and reducing the carbon emissions of your software. ISO/IEC 21031:2024.
Termite Ecology in the First Two Decades of the 21st Century: A Review of Reviews
Termite ecology came of age in 1978 with the seminal review of Wood and Sands which by considering the quantitative contributions made by termites to the carbon cycle at the landscape level concluded that they were major players in tropical ecosystems. Subsequent field work in the succeeding two decades was summarised in 2000 by Bignell and Eggleton, the most recent review which attempted to cover the entire topic in detail, which included 188 listed references and has been extensively cited for almost 20 years. Subsequent summaries more narrowly defined or in some cases more superficial are listed in the bibliography. In this overview, the main and subsidiary headings in Bignell and Eggleton are revisited and reclassified in the light of 186 selected articles added to the relevant literature since 2000, and some earlier work. While the literature on termite ecology remains buoyant, it has declined relative to publications on other aspects of termite biology. Overall, the thesis that termites have a major impact on, and are major indicators of soil health and landscape integrity in the tropics and sub-tropics is maintained, but the drivers of local diversity, abundance and biomass remain complex, with many biographical, edaphic and optimum sampling issues not completely resolved. The large increase in diversity and abundance data from Neotropical biomes can also be noted.
Dirt Poor: Have Fruits and Vegetables Become Less Nutritious?
Because of soil depletion, crops grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us get today
