Monat: Mai 2024

Morris et al. (2024): Biochar in the UK Print News Media: Issue Frames and Their Implications for Opening up Debate About Land-based Greenhouse Gas Removal

Carol Morris, Catherine Price, Brigitte Nerlich IN: Environmental Communication, https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2024.2357318

This article examines societal debate and discussion around biochar as represented in the UK print news media and reflects on its implications for the democratic governance of novel technologies.

LINK

Fettrow et al. (2024): Factors controlling spatiotemporal variability of soil carbon accumulation and stock estimates in a tidal salt marsh

Sean Fettrow, Andrew Wozniak, Holly A. Michael, and Angelia L. Seyfferth IN: Biogeosciences, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2367-2024

Tidal marshes often contain multiple species of cordgrass due to variations in hydrology and soil biogeochemistry caused by microtopography and distance from tidal creeks, creating distinct subsites. The overarching objective was to observe how soil C concentration and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) vary across four plant phenophases and across three subsites categorized by unique vegetation and hydrology. The authors also investigated the dominant biogeochemical controls on the spatiotemporal variability of soil C and DOC concentrations. 

LINK

Xie et al. (2024): Euphotic Zone Residence Time of Antarctic Bottom Water

Yinghuan Xie, Paul Spence, Stuart Corney, Veronica Tamsitt, Hannah R. S. Dawson, Christina Schmidt, Lennart T. Bach IN: Geophysical Research Letter, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL106342

Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) transports surface nutrients deep into the ocean, sequestering them for centuries. Enhancing its biological carbon fixation could augment carbon sinks and reduce atmospheric CO2. Yet, it is uncertain if AABW receives enough light for significant photosynthesis before subducting. 

LINK

De Marco et al. (2024): Energy demand and saving opportunities of limestone and olivine-rich rocks supply for geochemical carbon dioxide removal

Serena De Marco, Stefano Caserini, Thorben Amann, Mario Grosso IN: Environmental Research Letters, DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/ad4efb

Based on a literature review, surface mining, comminution, their related sub-stages, and long-haul transportation have carefully been surveyed to elucidate the order of magnitude of the energy demand, the technical challenges posed by each operation, and the potential energy-savings achievable by applying opportune strategies. This work confirms the significant energy-saving opportunities in fine and ultrafine grinding (one of the most energy-consuming activities along the raw material supply chain) as underlined by previous studies, and, in addition, it focuses on limestone and olivine-rich rocks providing new outcomes, it analyses data from a climate change perspective and extends calculations and discussion to transportation.

LINK

Leng et al. (2024): Forest aging limits future carbon sink in China

Yi Leng, Wei Li, Philippe Ciais, Minxuan Sun, Lei Zhu, Chao Yue, Jinfeng Chang, Yitong Yao, Yuan Zhang, Jiaxin Zhou, Zhao Li, Xuhui Wang, Yi Xi, Shushi Peng IN: One Earth, 7, 5, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2024.04.011

Forecasting ahead to the year 2100, the work presented in this article shows that forest aging and the slowdown of atmospheric CO2 growth will reduce China’s land-based carbon sink by up to 1.1 Tg of carbon per year. Considering the commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, China needs to recognize the limitations of forests as a climate mitigation tool and promote stringent emission reductions in other sectors.

LINK

Budai et al. (2024): Qualitative evaluation of nine agricultural methods for increasing soil carbon storage in Norway

Alice E. Budai, Daniel P. Rasse, Thomas Cottis, Erik J. Joner, Vegard Martinsen, Adam O’Toole, Hugh Riley, Synnøve Rivedal, Ievina Sturite, Gunnhild Søgaard, Simon Weldon, Samson Øpstad IN: European Journal of Soil Science, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.13493

In Norway, where soils have relatively high carbon content because of the cold climate, adapting management practices that prevent the loss of carbon to the atmosphere in response to climate change is also important. This work presents an overview of the potential for carbon sequestration in Norway from a wide range of agricultural management practices and provides recommendations based on certainty in the reported potential, availability of the technology, and likelihood for implementation by farmers. 

LINK

He et al. (2024): Enhanced sequestration of carbon in ocean sediments as a means to reduce global emissions: A case study from a coastal wetland restoration project in the Liaohe Delta, Northeast China

Lei He, Siyuan Ye, Hongming Yuan, Changbin Yu, Xigui Ding, Guangming Zhao, Shaofeng Pei, Jin Wang, Shixiong Yang, Xueyang Yu, Hans Brix, Edward A. Laws IN: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 648, 112286, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112286

To assess the capacity of coastal regions to uptake and bury carbon, a wetland restoration project was carried out in the degraded coastal wetlands of the Liaohe Delta between 2011 and 2013. A 13.33-ha degraded salt marsh was selected to create two enhanced carbon sink experimental areas, one dominated by Phragmites australis and the other dominated by Suaeda salsa. Improvements to the wetland matrix, hydrological processes, and vegetation colonization were designed and constructed.

LINK

Global Climate: Chemistry of CO2 Removal

Lauren J. Barrett, Samantha Rush, Penny Vlahos, ACS Publications, June 2024

The reader is introduced to the underlying physics of Earth’s energy systems, an outline of the global carbon cycle and its effects on climate over various timescales, and the theory of CDR. Understanding the natural relationship between carbon cycles and global climate is essential to CDR, as most technologies strive to accelerate the long-term carbon storage mechanisms provided in nature. To that end, a bottom-up understanding of atmospheric energy budgets from greenhouse gases to millennial-scale carbon cycling is provided.

LINK

Chapter: Carbon-Negative Crude Oil

Steven Bryant IN: Sustainability in the Oil and Gas Sector, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51586-6_7

Every year in which targets for elimination and avoidance are not reached adds yet more carbon that must be removed from the atmosphere. The transportation sector is particularly challenged in this regard. It is impractical to avoid emissions from myriad vehicles, and difficult to eliminate emissions for some modes of transport. In this context, carbon-negative crude oil can play a valuable role. While nature-based solutions offer a route to CDR, engineered and natural/engineered hybrid NETs are likely to be necessary to accomplish CDR at scale. Unfortunately, few rapidly scalable options for NETs exist. Thus, the idea of coupling established, already scaled technologies for injecting and producing fluids in subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs, such as CO2 enhanced oil recovery, with rapidly growing technologies to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, such as direct air capture, is timely. We describe how to operate this coupled process so that more carbon is removed from the atmosphere than is emitted during the production, processing, and combustion of oil. We discuss advantages and drawbacks of carbon-negative crude oil relative to other forms of CDR and to other paths to decarbonizing transportation, ranging from capital efficiency and speed of implementation to social desirability and technology lock-in.

LINK