biological carbon capture and storage (Bccs):
developing a carbon sequestration methodology
Carbon Neutral Commons is developing a new methodology for Biological Carbon Capture and Storage (BCCS) through biochar. The methodology begins with accounting for the carbon we bring from the long-term into the short-term carbon cycle by burning fossil fuels. Then through gasification of biomass we could remove an equivalent amount of carbon from the short-term into the long-term carbon cycle. By accurately measuring and certifying the rate at which the char will decompose (also known as its rate of recalcitrance), we can produce a product which should sequester carbon in soil for thousands of years.
This creates a basis with which a dollar value could be applied to both sides of the equation, developing a market-based mechanism for nations, companies and individuals to “clean up” their carbon emissions. In our vision, the suppliers of carbon sequestration will be existing rural communities and the product to be exported will physically remain in the community, to be returned to the soil from which it came, the export will be a certificate indicating to the purchaser the number of atoms of carbon that have been sequestered. Finally, the system will involve a rigorous third-party auditing system to guarantee quality and transparency of the system.
If there is enough political support for reasonable to prevail over the mass of unreasonable self-interest, then government policy will act to implement laws resulting in the equilibration of the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. This is a massive task; clean air is an international public good. The governance challenges that must be overcome to implement this effort with a reasonable chance of success are unprecedented in the history of human affairs. By showing how the method could be implemented we hope to encourage the possibility of this market-based solution to the problem of private overuse of this public good.
This creates a basis with which a dollar value could be applied to both sides of the equation, developing a market-based mechanism for nations, companies and individuals to “clean up” their carbon emissions. In our vision, the suppliers of carbon sequestration will be existing rural communities and the product to be exported will physically remain in the community, to be returned to the soil from which it came, the export will be a certificate indicating to the purchaser the number of atoms of carbon that have been sequestered. Finally, the system will involve a rigorous third-party auditing system to guarantee quality and transparency of the system.
If there is enough political support for reasonable to prevail over the mass of unreasonable self-interest, then government policy will act to implement laws resulting in the equilibration of the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. This is a massive task; clean air is an international public good. The governance challenges that must be overcome to implement this effort with a reasonable chance of success are unprecedented in the history of human affairs. By showing how the method could be implemented we hope to encourage the possibility of this market-based solution to the problem of private overuse of this public good.
