Recent press coverage of soil carbon sequestration on farms creates the dangerous impression that we can easily store a significant fraction of CO2 from fossil fuel emissions through better soil management.
Category: carbon sequestration
William Schlesinger
agriculture, biodiversity, biogeochemistry, carbon sequestration, faculty, natural habitat
agriculture, biodiversity, biogeochemistry, carbon sequestration, faculty, natural habitat
What Makes a Healthy Ecosystem?
[We need] a report card that grades plant production, soil organic matter, biodiversity and nutrient balance against our best measures of what they would be in a world without humans.
William Schlesinger
agriculture, carbon sequestration, climate, energy, environmental policy, faculty, forests, renewable energy
agriculture, carbon sequestration, climate, energy, environmental policy, faculty, forests, renewable energy
Reconsidering Bioenergy
Policies devoted to bioenergy should be redirected toward efforts to protect terrestrial carbon stocks and recarbonize the biosphere.
Evaluating the Gas We Pass
Flooding can convert soils from a methane sink to a methane source to the atmosphere
William Schlesinger
agriculture, carbon sequestration, climate, environmental policy, faculty, forests
agriculture, carbon sequestration, climate, environmental policy, faculty, forests
Additionality
No matter how much carbon they assimilate, the carbon uptake by an existing mature forest is not additional,
William Schlesinger
biodiversity, biogeochemistry, carbon sequestration, climate, energy, environmental policy, faculty, forests, renewable energy
biodiversity, biogeochemistry, carbon sequestration, climate, energy, environmental policy, faculty, forests, renewable energy
Are wood pellets a green fuel?
production of wood pellets for fuel is likely to put more CO2 in the atmosphere and maintain less biodiversity on the land during the next several decades.
Humus
If we are to store carbon in soils, better management of agricultural lands might be one avenue to pursue.
Natural Climate Solutions
Enhancement of natural carbon sinks would allow a more orderly withdrawal of fossil fuels from our economy during the next several decades.
Geo-engineering II: The sea
if we added iron to a large area of the world’s oceans, we could dramatically lower the level of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
The CO2 storage capacity of areas favorable for CCS in the United States amounts to 150 x 1015 g of CO2—equivalent to about 25 years of our emissions at current levels.