Lec.32. soil carbon sequestration and carbon trading

1. Soil carbon sequestration
and carbon trading
K. Maheshwaran, Asst. Prof. (SS&AC)
Sethu Bhaskara Agricultural College &
Research Foundation

3. Soil carbon
 Carbon is a common constituent of all
organic matter
 It is involved essential in all life processes.
 The transformation of this element into
various organic materials like CO2, plants,
and animals and their dead residues is
called carbon cycle.
 This is also the bio-cycle or life cycle.
 This insures the continuity of life on earth.
 Plants take up atmospheric CO2 during
photosynthesis in the presence of light and
convert it into various organic components.

4.  Humans and animals consume plant
products, derive energy and develop body
tissue.
 They return the wastes and residues to the
soil macro and micro organisms digest
these organic residues.
 They release plant nutrients for plants and
also CO2 and it is released to the
atmosphere.
 The CO2 released to the atmosphere is
available for plant consumption.
Soil carbon

5.  Carbon sequestration is the process of
removing atmospheric CO2, either through
biological processes (e.g. plants and trees),
or geological processes through storage of
CO2 in underground reservoirs.
 Carbon sequestration refers to the
storage of carbon in a stable solid form.
It occurs through direct and indirect
fixation of atmospheric CO2
Carbon Sequestration

6.  Direct soil carbon sequestration occurs by
inorganic chemical reactions that convert
CO2 into soil inorganic carbon compounds
such as calcium and magnesium
carbonates
 Direct plant carbon sequestration occurs as
plants photosynthesize atmospheric CO2
into plant biomass
 Some of this plant biomass is indirectly
sequestered as soil organic carbon (SOC)
during decomposition processes
Soil carbon

7.  This transfer or “sequestering” of carbon
helps off-set emissions from fossil fuel
combustion and other carbon-emitting
activities while enhancing soil quality and
long-term agronomic productivity.
 Soil carbon sequestration can be
accomplished by management systems that
add high amounts of biomass to the soil,
cause minimal soil disturbance, conserve
soil and water, improve soil structure, and
enhance soil fauna activity.
Soil carbon

9.  Removing CO2 from the atmosphere
 Improving soil and water quality
 Decreased nutrient loss
 Reduced soil erosion
 Increase in water conservation
 Increased population and activity of micro
organisms
Benefits of Soil carbon
sequestration

10.  It is an approach to mitigate global
warming based on capturing carbon dioxide
(CO2) from fossil fuel power plants
 CCS applied to a modern conventional
power plant could reduce CO2 emissions to
the atmosphere by approximately 80-90%
compared to a plant without CCS.
 Capturing and compressing CO2 requires
much energy and would increase the fuel
needs of a coal-fired plant with CCS by
25%-40%.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) methods

11. Geological storage
 Also known as geo-sequestration, this
method involves injecting carbon dioxide
directly into underground geological
formations.
Oceans as carbon sequestrators
 One way to increase the carbon
sequestration efficiency of the oceans is to
add micrometre-sized iron particles in the
form of either hematite (iron oxide) or
melanterite (iron sulfate) to certain regions
of the ocean.
Soil carbon sequestration

13. Mineral storage
 In this process, CO2 is exothermically
reacted with available metal oxides which
produces stable carbonates.
Forest as carbon sequestrators
 Forests are carbon stores, and they are
carbon dioxide sinks when they are
increasing in density or area.
 Tropical reforestation can mitigate global
warming until all available land has been
reforested with mature forests.
Soil carbon sequestration
Mineral storage
 In this process, CO2 is exothermically
reacted with available metal oxides which
produces stable carbonates.
Forest as carbon sequestrators
 Forests are carbon stores, and they are
carbon dioxide sinks when they are
increasing in density or area.
 Tropical reforestation can mitigate global
warming until all available land has been
reforested with mature forests.

14. CO2 Reuse
 A potentially useful way of dealing with
industrial sources of CO2 is to convert it into
hydrocarbons where it can be stored or
reused as fuel or to make plastics.
 A proven process to produce a hydrocarbon
is to make methanol
 Methanol is rather easily synthesized from
CO2 and H2
Soil carbon sequestration

15.  Carbon emissions trading is emissions
trading specifically for carbon dioxide
 It is one of the ways countries can meet
their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol to
reduce carbon emissions and thereby
mitigate global warming
 The process of buying and selling permits
and credits to emit CO2 exchange credits
between nations to mitigate the emission of
CO2
Carbon emissions trading

16.  The world’s biggest carbon trading system is
the European Union Emissions Trading System
(EUETS)
 The carbon trade organized with 1997 Kyoto
protocol, with the objective of reducing carbon
emission and mitigating climate change and
future global warming
 Carbon trade also refers to the ability of
individual companies to trade polluting rights
though a regulatory system known as cap and
Carbon emissions trading

17. Conservation tillage
 Minimum manipulation of soil includes
mulch tillage, crop residue management for
crop production
 These practices reduce soil erosion,
improve water use efficiency and increase
Carbon content on the top soil
Management of carbon
sequestration

18. Cover cropping
 Use of crops such as green manure and
green leaf manure
 Improve carbon sequestration by improving
soil structure and adding organic matter to
the soil
Cover rotation
 Various crops grown can increase the level
of soil organic matter
Management of carbon
sequestration

19. Afforestation
 In forest trees and plants, carbon is stored
in woody tissues and soil organic matter the
net rate of carbon uptake is greatest
 Wood from the trees must itself be
sequestered
 Degraded forest all over the world could
capture about 205 million tonnes of C in
total
Management of carbon
sequestration

20. Urban forestry
 It increase the amount of carbon in cities by
adding new trees sites and sequestration of
carbon
Wetland restoration
 Wetland soils is an improving C sink
 14.5 % of the world soil C is found in
wetlands
 6% of world land is composed of wetlands
Management of carbon
sequestration

22. …Thank you…