Version 1
: Received: 22 July 2020 / Approved: 24 July 2020 / Online: 24 July 2020 (10:22:32 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 4 August 2020 / Approved: 5 August 2020 / Online: 5 August 2020 (08:54:39 CEST)
Version 3
: Received: 15 November 2020 / Approved: 17 November 2020 / Online: 17 November 2020 (11:41:48 CET)
Version 4
: Received: 14 January 2021 / Approved: 15 January 2021 / Online: 15 January 2021 (12:34:52 CET)
How to cite:
Amelse, J. Towards Achieving Net Zero Carbon Dioxide by Sequestering Biomass Carbon. Preprints2020, 2020070576. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202007.0576.v4
Amelse, J. Towards Achieving Net Zero Carbon Dioxide by Sequestering Biomass Carbon. Preprints 2020, 2020070576. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202007.0576.v4
Amelse, J. Towards Achieving Net Zero Carbon Dioxide by Sequestering Biomass Carbon. Preprints2020, 2020070576. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202007.0576.v4
APA Style
Amelse, J. (2021). Towards Achieving Net Zero Carbon Dioxide by Sequestering Biomass Carbon. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202007.0576.v4
Chicago/Turabian Style
Amelse, J. 2021 "Towards Achieving Net Zero Carbon Dioxide by Sequestering Biomass Carbon" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202007.0576.v4
Abstract
Many corporations aspire to become Net Zero Carbon Dioxide by 2030-2050. This paper examines what it will take. It requires understanding where energy is produced and consumed, the magnitude of CO2 generation, and the Carbon Cycle. Reviews are provided for prior technologies for reducing CO2 emissions from fossil to focus on their limitations and to show that none offer a complete solution. Both biofuels and CO2 sequestration reduce future CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. They will not remove CO2 already in the atmosphere. Planting trees has been proposed as one solution. Trees are a temporary solution. When they die, they decompose and release their carbon as CO2 to the atmosphere. The only way to permanently remove CO2 already in the atmosphere is to break the Carbon Cycle by growing biomass from atmospheric CO2 and sequestering biomass carbon. Permanent sequestration of leaves is proposed as a solution. Leaves have a short Carbon Cycle time constant. They renew and decompose every year. Theoretically, sequestrating a fraction of the world’s tree leaves can get the world to Net Zero without disturbing the underlying forests. This would be CO2 capture in its simplest and most natural form. Permanent sequestration may be achieved by redesigning landfills to discourage decomposition. In traditional landfills, waste undergoes several stages of decomposition, including rapid initial aerobic decomposition to CO2, followed by slow anaerobic decomposition to methane and CO2. The latter can take hundreds to thousands of years. Understanding landfill chemistry provides clues to disrupting decomposition at each phase.
Keywords
carbon dioxide; global warming; sequestration; carbon cycle; biomass sequestration, carbon sequestration, CO2
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science and Meteorology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Received:
15 January 2021
Commenter:
Jeffrey Amelse
Commenter's Conflict of Interests:
Author
Comment:
Uploading Version 4 of "Achieving Net Zero Carbon Dioxide By Sequestering Biomass Carbon." Changed the title to: "Towards Achieving Net Zero Carbon Dioxide By Sequestering Biomass Carbon." Added Fig. 16. Calculated cumulative leaf biomass as a percentage of total biomass generated over the life of various species of Maple trees at various locations in the US that shows cumulative biomass after years of growth can be a substantial percentage of total biomass generated by a tree. Added Section 10, which includes projected percentage of degradable biomass that will decompose as a function of years after landfill closure based on a US EPA LandGEM model of a Bahrain landfill. This shows that even if no additional steps are taken in the proposed modified landfills, only a fraction of the biomass will decompose, thus proving the premise of the paper that secue biomass sequestration can be achieve and can serve as a way to offset CO2 from continued future use of fossil fuels.
Commenter: Jeffrey Amelse
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author