 Carbon sequestration from a fossil-fuel power station A carbon dioxide sink or CO2 sink is a carbon reservoir that is increasing in size, and is the opposite of a carbon "source". The main sinks are the oceans and growing vegetation. The concept has become more widely known through its application by the Kyoto protocol. Carbon Sequestration is the term describing processes that take carbon out of the biosphere. carbon sequestration File links The following pages link to this file: Carbon dioxide sink ...
carbon sequestration File links The following pages link to this file: Carbon dioxide sink ...
Ocean (from Okeanos, a Greek god of sea and water; Greek ωκεανός) covers almost three quarters (71%) of the surface of the Earth. ...
Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering...
Kyoto Protocol Opened for signature December 11, 1997 at Kyoto, Japan Entered into force February 16, 2005. ...
The biosphere is that part of a planets outer shell—including air, land, and water—within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform. ...
Forests
The idea of carbon sinks based on growing trees rests on an understanding of the carbon cycle. Enormous amounts of carbon are naturally stored in trees. As part of photosynthesis trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it as carbon while oxygen is released back into the atmosphere. Rapidly growing trees absorb a larger amount of carbon dioxide. Mature trees grow less rapidly and thus have a lower intake of carbon dioxide. Trees are about 50 per cent carbon by weight. While all trees die and rot, releasing most of the stored carbon back to the atmosphere, the forest as a whole continues to store carbon as dying or harvested trees are replaced by natural regeneration. The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged between the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere of the Earth. ...
Leaf. ...
Earths atmosphere is the layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earths gravity. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless Atomic mass 15. ...
In effect, forests are carbon dioxide stores, and the sink effect exists only when they grow in size: it is thus naturally limited. It seems clear that the use of forests to curb climate change can only be a temporary measure. Even optimistic estimates come to the conclusion that the planting of new forests is not enough to counter-balance the current level of greenhouse gas emissions.[1] To reduce U.S. carbon emissions by 7 percent, as stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol, would require the planting of "an area the size of Texas every 30 years," according to William H. Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School of the environment and earth sciences at Duke University, in Chapel Hill, N.C.[2] Increasing CO2 levels Greenhouse gases (GHG) are gaseous components of the atmosphere that contribute to the greenhouse effect. ...
Although a forest is a net CO2 sink over time, the plantation of new forests may also initially be a source of carbon dioxide emission when carbon from the soil is released into the atmosphere.
Other studies indicate that the cooling effect of removing carbon by forest growth can be counteracted by the effects of the forest on reflection of sunlight, or albedo. Mid-to-high latitude forests have a much lower albedo during snow seasons than flat ground, and this contributes to warming. The albedo is a measure of reflectivity of a surface or body. ...
To prevent the stored carbon from being released into the atmosphere when the trees die, there have been suggestions of sinking the trees into the ocean. Such suggestions raise serious questions about feasibility. Others have suggested leaving the coal sequestered underground and burn the wood produced by the trees as biofuel Biofuel is any fuel that derives from biomass — recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts, such as manure from cows. ...
The dead trees, plants, and moss in peat bogs undergo slow anaerobic decomposition below the surface of the bog. This process is slow enough that in many cases the bog grows faster and fixes more carbon from the atmosphere than is released. Over time, the peat grows deeper. Peat bogs inter approximately one-quarter of the carbon in land plants and soils [3]. Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetable matter. ...
Oceans
 An image of liquid carbon dioxide spilling from a beaker on the ocean floor. The image was taken from video of a carbon sequestration experiment done by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Oceans are also natural carbon dioxide sinks. Ocean water can hold a variable amount of dissolved CO2 depending on temperature and pressure. Phytoplankton in the oceans, like trees, use photosynthesis to extract carbon from CO2. They are the starting point of the marine food chain. Plankton and other marine organisms extract CO2 from the ocean water to build their skeletons and shells of the mineral calcite, CaCO3. This removes CO2 from the water and more dissolves in from the atmosphere. These calcite skeletons and shells along with the organic carbon of the organism eventually fall to the bottom of the ocean when the organisms die. The carbon or plankton cells have to sink to the deep water in 2000 to 4000 meter to be sequestered for ca. 1000 years. The sinking can be accelerated orders of magnitude when zooplankton prey on the cells and produce fast sinking fecal pellets or fecal strings, like the Antarctic krill. This process is called the Biological Pump. It has been theorized that the organic carbon within the accumulating ocean bottom sediments is how fossil fuels are created. Liquid carbon dioxide on the bottom of the ocean in an experiment [1] by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute This work is copyrighted. ...
Liquid carbon dioxide on the bottom of the ocean in an experiment [1] by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute This work is copyrighted. ...
Phytoplankton shown highly magnified Phytoplankton refers to the algal or plant-like component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. ...
Food chains and food webs describe the feeding relationships between species in a biotic community. ...
Calcite from Brushy Creek Mine, Missouri, USA. The mineral calcite is a calcium carbonate corresponding to the formula CaCO3 and is one of the most widely distributed minerals on the Earths surface. ...
Photomontage of plankton organisms Plankton is the aggregate community of weakly swimming but mostly drifting small organisms that inhabit the water column of the ocean, seas, and bodies of freshwater. ...
Binomial name Euphausia superba Dana, 1850 The Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba 1) is a species of krill found in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean. ...
Coal rail cars in Ashtabula, Ohio Fossil fuels, also known as mineral fuels, are hydrocarbon-containing natural resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas. ...
One of the most promising ways to increase the efficiency of this sink is to fertilize the water with iron sulfate: this has the effect of stimulating the growth of the plankton. A test in 2002 in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica suggests that between 10,000 and 100,000 carbon atoms are sunk for each iron atom added to the water. Advocates of this technique estimate that a large use of it could make a significant dent in the greenhouse effect. Photomontage of plankton organisms Plankton are the weakly swimming but mostly drifting small organisms that inhabit the water column of the ocean, seas, and bodies of freshwater. ...
The greenhouse effect, first discovered by Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier in 1824, is the process by which an atmosphere warms a planet. ...
Those skeptical of this approach argue that the final effect of phytoplankton blooming on the ecosystem and its consumption by krill is not clear, and that more studies are needed. Phytoplankton do have a complex effect on cloud formation via the release of substances such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS) which are converted to sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere providing cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Phytoplankton shown highly magnified Phytoplankton refers to the algal or plant-like component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. ...
Families Euphausiidae Bentheuphausiidae Krill are shrimp-like marine invertebrate animals. ...
Phytoplankton shown highly magnified Phytoplankton refers to the algal or plant-like component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. ...
Dimethyl sulfide causes that distinctive smell from your St. ...
DMS may stand for: Demonstrating My Style Crew that has been holding down NYHC for years!. degree-minute-second method method of writing angles (such as 22°3000 instead of decimal 22. ...
Aerosol pollution over Northern India and Bangladesh - NASA Cloud condensation nuclei or CCNs are small particles (typically 0. ...
Another proposed form of carbon sequestration in the ocean is direct injection. In this method, carbon dioxide is pumped directly into the water at depth, and expected to form "lakes" of liquid CO2 at the bottom. Experiments carried out in moderate to deep waters (350 - 3600 meters) indicate that the liquid CO2 reacts to form solid CO2 clathrate hydrates which gradually dissolve in the surrounding waters. Clathrate hydrates are a class of solids in which gas molecules occupy cages made up of hydrogen-bonded water molecules. ...
This method, too, has potentially dangerous environmental consequences. The carbon dioxide does react with the water to form carbonic acid, H2CO3; however, most (as much as 99%) remains as dissolved molecular CO2. The equilibrium would no doubt be quite different under the high pressure conditions in the deep ocean. The resulting environmental effects on benthic life forms of the bathypelagic, abyssopelagic and hadopelagic zones are unknown. Even though life appears to be rather sparse in the deep ocean basins, energy and chemical effects in these deep basins could have far reaching implications. Much more work is needed here to define the extent of the potential problems. Carbonic acid is a weak acid with the chemical formula of H2CO3. ...
In marine geology and biology, benthos are the organisms and habitats of the sea floor; in freshwater biology they are the organisms and habitats of the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and creeks. ...
The pelagic zone is the part of the open sea or ocean comprising the water column, i. ...
The pelagic zone is the part of the open sea or ocean comprising the water column, i. ...
The pelagic zone is the part of the open sea or ocean comprising the water column, i. ...
Geological sequestration Also known as geo-sequestration, this method involves injecting carbon dioxide directly into underground geological formations. Such formations may be natural such caverns or porous rock structures. They may also be man-made, such as unused mines and expended petroleum fields.
A major research project examining the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide is currently being performed at an oil field at Weyburn in southeastern Saskatchewan. In the North Sea, the natural gas platform Sleipner strips carbon dioxide out of the natural gas with amine solvents and disposes of this carbon dioxide by geological sequestration. Sleipner reduces emissions of carbon dioxide by approximately one million tonnes a year. The cost of geological sequestration is minor relative to the overall running costs. As of April 2005, BP are considering a trial of large-scale sequestration of carbon dioxide stripped from power plant emissions in the Miller oilfield as its reserves are depleted.
Another aspect of geological sequestration is the capture of carbon dioxide from flue gases. This adds significantly to the costs. Currently, capture of carbon dioxide is performed on a large scale by absorption of carbon dioxide onto various amine based solvents. Other techniques are currently being investigated such as pressure and temperature swing absorption, gas separation membranes and cryogenics.
Soil sequestration The carbon sequestration potential of soils (by increasing soil organic matter) is substantial; below ground organic carbon storage is more than twice aboveground storage. Soils' organic carbon levels in many agricultural areas have been severely depleted. Improving the humus levels of these soils would both improve soil quality and increase the amount of carbon sequestered in these soils. For the heavy metal band see Soil (band) Soil is a general term for the material that lies on the surface of the earth, supporting the growth of plants and serving as a habitat for animal life from microrganisms to small animals. ...
For article about the oriental food, see Hummus. ...
Grasslands contribute huge quantities of soil organic matter over time, mostly in the form of roots, and much of this organic matter can remain unoxidized for long periods. Since the 1850s, a large proportion of the world's grasslands have been tilled and converted to croplands, allowing the rapid oxidation of large quantities of soil organic carbon. No-till agricultural systems can increase the amount of carbon stored in soil, and conversion to pastureland, particularly with good management of grazing, can sequester even more carbon in the soil.
Mechanisms to enhance carbon sequestration in soil include conservation tilling; cover cropping; and crop rotation. Crop rotation is the practice of growing two (or more) dissimilar type of crops in the same space in sequence. ...
Carbon sinks and the Kyoto Protocol The protocols hold that, since growing vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide, countries that have large areas of forest (or other vegetation) can deduct a certain amount from their emissions, thus making it easier for them to achieve the desired emission levels. The effectiveness of these provisions is controversial. Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ...
Some countries want to be able to trade in emission rights in carbon emission markets, to make it possible for one country to buy the benefit of carbon dioxide sinks in another country. It is said that such a market mechanism will help find cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse emissions. There is as yet no carbon audit regime for all such markets globally, and none is specified in the Kyoto Protocol. Each nation is on its own to verify actual carbon emission reductions, and to account for carbon sequestration using some less formal method. A carbon audit regime is an effective means of accounting for greenhouse gas control efforts. ...
Kyoto Protocol Opened for signature December 11, 1997 at Kyoto, Japan Entered into force February 16, 2005. ...
See also The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged between the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere of the Earth. ...
Global mean surface temperatures 1856-2004 Mean temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980 Global warming is a term used to describe an increase over time of the average temperature of Earths atmosphere and oceans. ...
Increasing CO2 levels Greenhouse gases (GHG) are gaseous components of the atmosphere that contribute to the greenhouse effect. ...
For the album by Ocean Colour Scene, see North Atlantic Drift (album) The Gulf Stream is orange and yellow in this representation of water temperatures of the Atlantic. ...
Kyoto Protocol Opened for signature December 11, 1997 at Kyoto, Japan Entered into force February 16, 2005. ...
Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths crust. ...
Artists conception of a terraformed Mars in three stages of development. ...
References and external links
Research Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations programs seek to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living; to improve the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of food and agricultural products; to promote rural development; and, by these means, to eliminate hunger. ...
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