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Soil Carbon Sequestration vs. Carbon

Capture and Storage: A World of

DifferencePosted on June 20, 2011 by Environmental Commissioner of Ontario

In my latest Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Progress Report I talk about the potential

for soil carbon sequestration as a tool for mitigating climate change. In fact,

one of my four recommendations is that the Ontario government investigate

and publicly report on the potential for soil carbon sequestration as a GHG

mitigation strategy.

At the press conference following the release of my report, one member of the

media asked why I was recommending a strategy that was costing billions of

dollars in Alberta with very little in the way of results to show for all that expense.

It was clear that the questioner had confused carbon capture and storage

(CCS) with soil carbon sequestration an understandable mistake given that

the former has received a great deal of publicity and the latter practically none.

A World of Difference

Yet there is a world of difference between the two. CCS is a high-tech, high-

risk, costly, and as-yet-unproven approach with no co-benefits. Soil carbon

sequestration is a low-tech (but quite scientific), low-risk, inexpensive, and

proven approach with a myriad of co-benefits. The table below compares and

Ontario's Environmental Watchdog
http://www.ecoissues.ca/index.php/Meeting_Responsibilities:_Creating_Opportunities:Meeting_Responsibilities#Recommendationshttp://www.ecoissues.ca/index.php/Meeting_Responsibilities:_Creating_Opportunities:Meeting_Responsibilities#Recommendationshttp://www.ecoissues.ca/index.php/Meeting_Responsibilities:_Creating_Opportunities:Meeting_Responsibilities#Recommendationshttp://www.ecoissues.ca/index.php/Meeting_Responsibilities:_Creating_Opportunities:Meeting_Responsibilities#Recommendationshttp://www.eco.on.ca/blog/2011/06/20/soil-carbon-sequestration-vs-carbon-capture-and-storage-a-world-of-difference/http://www.eco.on.ca/blog/author/admin/http://www.eco.on.ca/blog/author/admin/http://www.eco.on.ca/blog/http://www.eco.on.ca/blog/http://www.ecoissues.ca/index.php/Meeting_Responsibilities:_Creating_Opportunities:Meeting_Responsibilities#Recommendationshttp://www.ecoissues.ca/index.php/Meeting_Responsibilities:_Creating_Opportunities:Near-term_Risk_and_Opportunities#Soil_Carbon_Opportunitieshttp://www.eco.on.ca/blog/author/admin/http://www.eco.on.ca/blog/2011/06/20/soil-carbon-sequestration-vs-carbon-capture-and-storage-a-world-of-difference/



contrasts these two distinct methods for reducing carbon in the atmosphere.

Approach Carbon capture and

storage

Soil carbon sequestration

How it

works

Carbon dioxide (CO ) is

captured at source as a gas

(usually from the emissions of

an industrial process),

liquefied under pressure, and

transported by pipeline to a

site where it is injected deep

underground or into the

ocean. The CO can be

captured before or after

combustion. The goal is to

trap the CO in geological

formations or in the deep

ocean where, ideally, it will

remain indefinitely.

In nature, the secretions and

remains of plants and animals

add carbon to soil on an on-

going basis. Carbon, in the

form of CO , is also released

from soil on an on-going basis,

as microbes break down soil

organic matter (SOM). This is

known as the carbon cycle. An

equilibrium in any given soil is

reached when inputs equal

outputs, on average, over time.

Conventional agricultural

methods (e.g., tilling the soil,

leaving soil bare, using

inorganic fertilizers) lower thecarbon content in soils by

accelerating the

decomposition i.e., the loss

of SOM. Such methods have

depleted carbon stocks in

agricultural soils worldwide by

up to 75 per cent.Alternatively,

methods that increase SOM

(e.g., no-till, manure and

compost application, cover

crops, green manures, etc.)

raise the carbon content in

soils and reduce atmospheric

CO .

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Benefits reduced emissions of

CO to the atmosphere;

iftechnology can be

further developed such

that CO can be

captured directly from

the air, CO released

previously can also be

removed (drawdown of

atmospheric CO )

reduced CO emissions

removal of CO released

previously (drawdown of

atmospheric CO ).

PLUS the following co-

benefits:

higher SOM levels in

soils confer many other

benefits, including:

higher levels of fertility;

drought resistance; and

general soil health and

resilience.

Relative

cost

Still unknown, but expected to

be very high. This is because

CCS requires significant

amounts of energy.

Varies with method used, but

in general quite low and offset

by co-benefits.

Permanence Proponents believe thatcarbon storage via CCS will

be permanent but some feel

that there is a risk that the

CO will gradually leak out

through escape routes and

return to the atmosphere.

Changes in agriculturalmanagement practices must

be maintained for the

sequestration to be

permanent. However, as

mentioned above, these

practices also bring co-

benefits, off-setting

maintenance costs.

Will Soil Carbon Sequestration Work?

Ive used very conservative assumptions in my report. Projecting forward, I think

it is reasonable to expect that an enhancement in recommended management

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practices (RMPs) could result in the sequestration of close to 10 million tonnes

(Mt) of CO per yearby 2020. Its an exciting opportunity and I look forward to

the governments response to my recommendation to investigate and report on

soil carbon sequestrations potential in more detail.

Resources:

For more detailed information on CCS, see the Pembina Institutes Canadian

Primer on the subject at

http://pubs.pembina.org/reports/CCS_Primer_Final_Nov15_05.pdf)

For more detailed information on Soil Carbon Sequestration, see the Ohio

State Universitys Extension Factsheet entitled Soil Carbon Sequestration

Fundamentals, at

http://www.envirothon.org/pdf/CG/carbon_sequestration.pdf

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This entry was posted in Reports to the Legislature and tagged air quality, carbon

capture and storage, climate change, ghg, greenhouse gas, soil, soil carbon

sequestration by Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. Bookmark the permalink

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