{"id":48074,"date":"2020-08-17T16:49:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T13:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/australias-move-to-store-carbon-in-soil-is-a-problem-for-tackling-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2020-08-17T16:49:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T13:49:00","slug":"australias-move-to-store-carbon-in-soil-is-a-problem-for-tackling-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/australias-move-to-store-carbon-in-soil-is-a-problem-for-tackling-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"#Australia’s move to store carbon in soil is a problem for tackling climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Australia’s move to store carbon in soil is a problem for tackling climate change<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Australia's<\/img>
\n Credit: Shutterstock
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

To slow climate change, humanity has two main options: reduce greenhouse gas emissions directly or find ways to remove them from the atmosphere. On the latter, storing carbon in soil\u2014or carbon farming\u2014is often touted as a promising way to offset emissions from other sources such as energy generation, industry and transport.<\/p>\n

\n <\/section>\n

The Morrison government’s Technology<\/a> Investment Roadmap, now open for public comment, identifies soil carbon as a potential way to reduce emissions from agriculture and to offset other emissions. <\/p>\n

In particular, it points to so-called “biochar”\u2014plant material transformed into carbon-rich charcoal then app<\/a>lied to soil.
\nBut the government’s plan contains misconceptions about both biochar, and the general<\/a> effectiveness of soil carbon as an emissions reduction strategy.
\nWhat is biochar?<\/b>
\nThrough photosynthesis, plants turn carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) into organic material known as biomass. When that biomass decomposes in soil, CO\u2082 is produced and mostly ends up in the atmosphere.
\nThis is a natural process. But if we can intervene by using technology to keep carbon in the soil rather than in the atmosphere, in theory that will help mitigate climate change. That’s where biochar comes in.
\nMaking biochar involves heating waste organic materials in a reduced-oxygen environment to create a charcoal-like product\u2014a process called “pyrolysis.” The carbon from the biomass is stored in the charcoal, which is very stable and does not decompose for decades.
\nPlant materials are the predominant material or “feedstock” used to make biochar, but livestock manure can also be used. The biochar is applied to the soil, purportedly to boost soil fertility and productivity. This has been tested on grassland, cropping soils and in vineyards.
\nBut there’s a catch<\/b>
\nSo far, so good. But there are a few downsides to consider.
\nFirst, the pyrolysis process produces combustible gases and uses energy\u2014to the extent that when all energy inputs and outputs are considered in a life cycle analysis, the net energy balance can be negative. In other words, the process can create more greenhouse gas emissions than it saves. The balance depends on many factors including the type and condition of the feedstock and the rate and temperature of pyrolysis.<\/p>\n

Second, while biochar may improve the soil carbon status at a new site, the sites from which the carbon residues are removed, such as farmers’ fields or harvested forests, will be depleted of soil carbon and associated nutrients. Hence there may be no overall gain in soil fertility.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Australia's<\/img>
\n Biochar is produced by burning organic material in a low oxygen environment. Credit: Shutterstock
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Third, the government roadmap claims increasing soil carbon can reduce emissions from livestock farming while increasing productivity. Theoretically, increased soil carbon should lead to better pasture growth. But the most efficient way for farmers to take advantage of the growth, and increase productivity, is to keep more livestock per hectare.
\nLivestock such as cows and sheep produce methane\u2014a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Our analysis suggests the methane produced by the extra stock would exceed the offsetting effect of storing more soil carbon. This would lead to a net increase, not decrease, in greenhouse gas
\nA policy failure<\/b>
\nThe government plan refers to the potential to build on the success of the Emissions Reduction Fund. Among other measures, the fund pays landholders to increase the amount of carbon stored in soil through carbon credits issued through the Carbon Farming Initiative.
\nHowever since 2014, the Emissions Reduction Fund has not significantly reduced Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions\u2014and agriculture’s contribution has been smaller still.
\nSo far, the agriculture sector has been contracted to provide about 9.5% of the overall abatement, or about 18.3 million tons. To date, it’s supplied only 1.54 million tons\u20148.4% of the sector’s commitment.
\nThe initiative has largely failed because several factors have made it uneconomic for farmers to take part. They include:
\noverly complex regulations requirements for expensive soil sampling and analysis the low value of carbon credits (averaging $12 per ton of CO\u2082-equivalent since the scheme began).
\nA misguided strategy<\/b>
\nWe believe the government is misguided in considering soil carbon as an emissions reduction technology.
\nCertainly, increasing soil carbon at one location can boost soil fertility and potentially productivity, but these are largely private landholder benefits\u2014paid for by taxpayers in the form of carbon credits.
\nIf emissions reduction is seen as a public benefit, then the payment to farmers becomes a subsidy. But it’s highly questionable whether the public benefit (in the form of reduced emissions) is worth the cost. The government has not yet done this analysis.
\nTo be effective, future emissions technology in Australia should focus on improving energy efficiency in industry, the residential sector and transport, where big gains are to be made.<\/p>\n

\n<\/hr>\n
\n<\/hr>\n

\n This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.\"The<\/img><\/p>\n

\n Citation<\/strong>:
\n Australia’s move to store carbon in soil is a problem for tackling climate change (2020, August 17)
\n retrieved 17 August 2020
\n from https:\/\/phys.org\/news<\/a>\/2020-08-australia-carbon-soil-problem-tackling.html<\/p>\n

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
\n part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“#Australia’s move to store carbon in soil is a problem for tackling climate change” Credit: Shutterstock To slow climate change, humanity has two main options: reduce greenhouse gas emissions directly or find ways to remove them from the atmosphere. On the latter, storing carbon in soil\u2014or carbon farming\u2014is often touted as a promising way to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[54387,10595],"class_list":["post-48074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sciencee","tag-australias-move-to-store-carbon-in-soil-is-a-problem-for-tackling-climate-change","tag-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48074\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}