Tag: biomass

Yang et al. (2021): Harmonized comparison of virgin steel production using biomass with carbon capture and storage for negative emissions

Fan Yang, Hans Meerman, André Faaij IN: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 112, 2021,103519, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2021.103519

Mass and energy balances were used to evaluate each route’s cradle-to-gate CO2eq emissions. Results indicate that using either CO2 capture and storage (CCS) or biomass can reduce, but not eliminate, CO2eq emissions in the iron and steel sector. However, the combination of CCS and biomass (BECCS) can result in CO2-neutral or even CO2-negative steelmaking.

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Blain et al. (2021): Coastal darkening substantially limits the contribution of kelp to coastal carbon cycles

Caitlin O. Blain, Sandra Christine Hansen, Nick T. Shears IN: Global Change Biology 27 (21) (2021), 5547-5563; https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15837

Macroalgal-dominated habitats are rapidly gaining recognition as important contributors to marine carbon cycles and sequestration. Despite this recognition, relatively little is known about the production and fate of carbon originating from these highly productive ecosystems, or how anthropogenic- and climate-related stressors affect the role of macroalgae in marine carbon cycles. Here, we examine the impact of increasing turbidity on carbon storage, fixation and loss in southern hemisphere kelp forests.

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PhysOrg: Climate: Removing CO2 from the air no longer optional

“The burning question going into the Glasgow climate summit is whether major economies can, by 2050, reduce emissions enough to deliver a carbon neutral world in which humanity no longer adds planet-warming gases to the atmosphere. Less talked about—but rising quickly on the climate agenda—are tools and techniques to pull CO2 straight out of the air. Even scientists sceptical about its feasibility agree that without carbon dioxide removal (CDR)—aka “negative emission”—it will be extremely difficult to meet the Paris Agreement goal of capping global warming below two degrees Celsius. ‘We need drastic, radical emissions reductions, and on top of that we need some CDR,’ said Glen Peters, research director at the Centre for International Climate Research.”

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Kieft, Brandon; et al. (2021): Phytoplankton exudates and lysates support distinct microbial consortia with specialized metabolic and ecophysiological traits

Kieft, Brandon; Li, Zhou; Bryson, Samuel; Hettich, Robert L.; Pan, Chongle; Mayali, Xavier; Mueller, Ryan S. (2021): Phytoplankton exudates and lysates support distinct microbial consortia with specialized metabolic and ecophysiological traits. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 118 (41). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101178118.

“Blooms of marine phytoplankton fix complex pools of dissolved organic matter (DOM) that are thought to be partitioned among hundreds of heterotrophic microbes at the base of the food web. While the relationship between microbial consumers and phytoplankton DOM is a key component of marine carbon cycling, microbial loop metabolism is largely understood from model organisms and substrates. Here, we took an untargeted approach to measure and analyze partitioning of four distinct phytoplankton-derived DOM pools among heterotrophic populations in a natural microbial community using a combination of ecogenomics, stable isotope probing (SIP), and proteomics. Each 13C-labeled exudate or lysate from a diatom or a picocyanobacterium was preferentially assimilated by different heterotrophic taxa with specialized metabolic and physiological adaptations.”

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Video: Biomass Harvesting and Storage (AirMiners Event Series)

“We at AirMiners continuously strive to find novel, potentially impactful methods of carbon removal; our panel event on Biomass Harvest and Storage (BHS) represents just that! Problem: Since biomass is essentially photosynthetically captured carbon, when plant biomass dies and decomposes, it releases its carbon back to the atmosphere as CO2 and other GHGs via the Carbon Cycle. Solution: BHS is a CDR method in which dead or live biomass is harvested via collection or selective cutting, and then either buried underground or stored aboveground to slow or prevent biomass from decomposing. BHS thus provides a way to break the Carbon Cycle and remove atmospheric CO2.”

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Patrizio, Piera; et al. (2021): CO2 mitigation or removal, the optimal uses of biomass in energy systems decarbonization

Patrizio, Piera; Fajardy, Mathilde; Bui, Mai; Dowell, Niall Mac (2021): CO2 mitigation or removal, the optimal uses of biomass in energy systems decarbonization. In iScience, p. 102765. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102765.

“Here, we quantify the mitigation and removal potential of key bio-based CO2 removal pathways for the transport, power, construction and iron and steel sectors in Europe.”

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Ruuskanen, Vesa;et al. (2021): Neo-Carbon Food concept: A pilot-scale hybrid biological–inorganic system with direct air capture of carbon dioxide

Ruuskanen, Vesa; Givirovskiy, Georgy; Elfving, Jere; Kokkonen, Petteri; Karvinen, Aku; Järvinen, Lauri et al. (2021): Neo-Carbon Food concept: A pilot-scale hybrid biological–inorganic system with direct air capture of carbon dioxide. In Journal of Cleaner Production 278, p. 123423. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123423.

“This work introduces the Neo-Carbon Food concept that is a pilot-scale hybrid biological–inorganic process suitable for the production of microbial biomass.”

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