Carbon sequestration

What is carbon sequestration?

The process of capture and long-term storage of CO2.

What two groups of carbon sequestration types exist?

Natural methods and human methods.

How does carbon sequestration help?

It mitigates or stops global warming and reduces climate change caused by burning fossil fuels and  forests. 

Restoring peat bogs as a method of carbon sequestration:

They hold dead plants and mosses, storing massive amounts of carbon

Healthy peat bogs are the most successful way of storing carbon

Contrarily, unhealthy peat bogs become carbon sources

Reforestation as a method of carbon sequestration:

Replanting of trees traps CO2

A long growth period is required for it to actually be effective

What are wetlands?

Areas of land which are saturated with water.

What are 3 examples of wetlands?

Swamps

Marshes

Mangroves

What percentage of the world’s soil carbon is found in wetlands?

14.5%

What percent of the Earth’s land is made up of wetlands?

6%

How can carbon footprint reduction and carbon sequestration be implemented in agriculture?

Reduced use of machinery and chemical fertilisers

Planting grasses and weeds between crop planting seasons

Avoiding overgrazing

Covering bare paddocks with hay and dead vegetation

Allowing degraded land to recover

Iron fertilisation as a method of carbon sequestration:

Deposition of iron-rich dust into the oceans

This encourages phytoplankton growth, which removes carbon from the atmosphere

Urea fertilisation as a method of carbon sequestration:

Fertilising oceans with urea (nitrogen-rich) could promote plankton growth

This has been planned off the west coast of Australia

Mixing ocean layers as a method of carbon sequestration:

Large vertical pipes are used to pump nutrient-rich water to the surface

This triggers carbon-trapping algal blooms

How does carbon capture and storage (CCS) work?

Carbon is extracted from the atmosphere or waste pipes of power plants

Waste carbon is pumped underground into unused space

What is BECCS?

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.

How does BECCS work?

Biomass is burned, bioenergy is extracted for use and the CO2 released is captured and stored like CCS.

Biochar as a method of carbon sequestration:

Charcoal is made, then added to soil to increase its fertility and agricultural productivity

This also traps carbon into the soil

Subterranean injections as a method of carbon sequestration:

CO2 can be injected into depleted oil and gas reserves, or into the ocean.

Deep basalt storage as a method of carbon sequestration:

Mixing CO2 with basalt deep in the oceans would create carbonate and hydrate minerals

These are more dense and would settle

Acid neutralisation as a method of carbon sequestration:

As CO2 mixes into oceans, they will become gradually more acidic

They absorb less CO2 as species like phytoplankton decline (they will eventually cease to exist)

Adding limestone to oceans could neutralise seawater and increase absorption again