More Fading Carbon Sinks

General

Biofuel Problems

Soils

Shaky Ground 0723 - Selling sequestration credits is shaky, for several reasons.  1. Carbon may only move from the lower solis layers to the top foot.  2. Carbon may not stay in the ground nearly as long (a century) as the soil credit is sold for.  3. The error bars for measurements or claims are very wide, and include zero. 4. Sampling is relatively costly, so samples from a few sampled fields are combined in a computer model to estimate savings for many more unsampled fields. 5. Other lesser issues.

No-Till May Not Be the Agricultural Panacea We Thought It Was 0822 - With no-till, more carbon is found in the top 10 cm of soil, but even less (than before) 10-60 cm down, for less carbon (0.28 to 2.29 tonnes / hectare) stored aross the whole soil profile.  Based on 144 studies over the last 50 years.  Un-tilled soil becomes compacted over time.

Soil-Science Revolution Upends Plans to Fight Climate Change 0721 - Many, more recent, studies indicate that, when soil carbon building practices (no-till, cover crops, etc.) are used, more carbon shows up in the top.  "When farmers skipped the tilling and instead drilled seeds into the ground, carbon stores grew in upper soil layers, but they disappeared from lower layers.  Most experts now believe that the practice redistributes carbon within the soil rather than increases it.”
     Moreover, what the researchers found — or, more specifically, what they didn’t find — was shocking: there were few or no long “recalcitrant” carbon molecules — the kind that don’t break down.  Almost everything seemed to be small and, in principle, digestible.

Net, Land Absorbs Carbon Now, but It Could Emit It in Just a Few Decades 0121 - forests AND soils

Could Changing the Way We Farm Rice Be a Climate Solution? 0420

Climate Change May Reduce Soil’s Ability to Absorb Water – a Key Store of CO2 - 0919

Organic Farming Can Be Much Worse for the Climate 1218 - lower crop yields / acre —> more forest acres to food crops

There’s a Climate Bomb Under Your Feet 1017

1/3 of Earth's Soil Is Acutely Degraded due to Agriculture 0917

Drylands Will Suffer if World Reaches 2°C 0417

Is Climate Change Putting the World's Micro-Biomes at Risk? 0316

Earth Has Lost 1/3 of Arable Land in Past 40 Years 1215

Why Scientists Are So Worried about Drylands (40% of Earth’s Land) 0915

California Rangeland Lost to Farms & Cities Poses Greenhouse Gas Risk 1214

Warning over Vulnerability of Soil Carbon to Warming 0914

Study Questions Nature’s Ability to ‘Self-Correct’ Climate 0813

Soil Carbon Is Just Blowing in the Wind 0813

Carbon Sources

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon Falls in 1st Month under Lula 0223

Fixing Oil & Gas Industry Methane Leaks, a Climate Game Changer, Pays for Itself 1122

New Zealand to Tax Agriculture Emissions at the Farm, in World 1st 1022

1st Harvest of Methane-Reducing Seaweed Asparagopsis in Western Australia 1022

University of Queensland Looks to Drastically Cut Livestock Methane Emissions 1022

Reducing Beef’s Carbon Footprint Is Key to Net-Zero in Latin America, Caribbean 0922

Vultures Prevent 10s of Millions of Metric Tons of Carbon Emissions Each Year 0922

New Technology Could Help Air Conditioning’s Climate Problem 0922

Seaweed Feed Reduces Cow Methane Emissions, but Scaling Up Is Slow 0822

Plant-Based Meat Is by Far the Best Climate Investment, Report Finds 0722

Feeding Cows Seaweed Reduces Their Methane Emissions.  Scaling Up Needed 0622 - Average methane belch reduction was 52% for feed Brominata, made of a red seaweed, Asparagopsis taxiformis, at a dairy farm in California.

Cow and Sheep Burps to Be Taxed by New Zealand, in World 1st 0622

Cracking Down on Methane ‘Ultra Emitters’ Can Combat Climate Change Quickly 0222

States to Get $1.15 Billion from Feds to Plug Abandoned Wells Leaking Methane 0122

Biden Wants to Cut Methane Emissions.  We Must Get It Out of the Air, Too. 1121

Cow Feed That Cleans Potent Methane Burps Nears Europe Rollout 1121

EPA to Slash Use of Powerful Greenhouse Gases in Grocery Freezers 0921

China Just Entered Major HFC Climate Pact.  Now Comes the Hard Part. 0921

A Techno-Economic Analysis of Carbon Capture Options in industry 0721

Manufacturers Are Now Providing Data for Buying Climate-Friendly Refrigerators 0421

Feeding Cows Seaweed Could Slash Their Methane Emissions a Staggering 82% - 0321

How Wetlands Are Linked to Our Climate 0221

Burger King Addresses Climate Change by Changing Cows' Diets 0720

Mootral’s Garlicky Supplements Solve Cow Methane Burps 0520

The Cheap and Easy Climate Fix to Can Cool the Planet Fast - Methane Control 1021

Carbon-Intensive Cement Industry Feeling the Heat 0919

America's Mega-Emitters Are Starting to Close 0819

Can Methane Burps Be Bred Out of Cows? 0719

Can We Grow Enough Seaweed to Help Cows Fight Climate Change? 0619

Dispose of Old CFCs to Help Fight Climate Change 0419

Companies Launch Plan to Capture Methane from Hog Manure Lagoons 1118

Termite Mounds Prevent 1/2 of Termite Methane Emissions 1118

How Eating Seaweed Can Help Cows to Belch Less Methane 0718

‘Farming’ Microbes to Feed Cows Could Save Land and Cut Emissions 0618

Negative Emissions Tested at World’s 1st Major BECCS Facility 0616

Rice Growers on the Front Lines of U.S. Carbon Markets 0116

Save More than 4 Million Lives a Year by Harnessing the Sun to Cook 0116

New Rice Could Help Reduce Global Greenhouse Gases 1215

Better Manure Management to Help Cut EU Farm Emissions by 2025 - 1215

Rice Farmers Now Eligible for California Carbon Offset Payments 0615

Replacing Old Gas Pipes Reduces Leaks 0915

Beef’s Impact on Argentina’s Emissions Scrutinized 0815

Diet Change Cuts Methane Emissions in Cow Burps 0815

Gas Utilities Reduce Methane Leaks 0315

Less-Gassy Cows Could Soon Be on Farms 1214

Misc.

Section Map: Carbon Emissions

More Fading Carbon Sinks

Misc. Carbon Emissions