Version 1
: Received: 3 June 2021 / Approved: 8 June 2021 / Online: 8 June 2021 (11:07:17 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 14 June 2021 / Approved: 15 June 2021 / Online: 15 June 2021 (11:08:17 CEST)
Version 3
: Received: 22 July 2021 / Approved: 23 July 2021 / Online: 23 July 2021 (09:24:28 CEST)
Version 4
: Received: 28 October 2021 / Approved: 2 November 2021 / Online: 2 November 2021 (10:53:39 CET)
Amelse JA, Behrens PK (2022) Sequestering Biomass for Natural, Carbon Efficient, and Low-Cost Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide. Int J Earth Environ Sci 7: 194 doi: https://doi.org/10.15344/2456-351X/2022/194
Amelse JA, Behrens PK (2022) Sequestering Biomass for Natural, Carbon Efficient, and Low-Cost Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide. Int J Earth Environ Sci 7: 194 doi: https://doi.org/10.15344/2456-351X/2022/194
Amelse JA, Behrens PK (2022) Sequestering Biomass for Natural, Carbon Efficient, and Low-Cost Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide. Int J Earth Environ Sci 7: 194 doi: https://doi.org/10.15344/2456-351X/2022/194
Amelse JA, Behrens PK (2022) Sequestering Biomass for Natural, Carbon Efficient, and Low-Cost Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide. Int J Earth Environ Sci 7: 194 doi: https://doi.org/10.15344/2456-351X/2022/194
Abstract
Many corporations and governments aspire to become Net Zero Carbon Dioxide by 2030-2050. Achieving Net Zero CO2 requires understanding where energy is produced and consumed, the magnitude of CO2 generation, and the Carbon Cycle. It is unreasonable to assume that fossil fuel can be completely replaced, and thus, atmospheric CO2 will continue to accumulate. Many prior proposed solutions focus on reducing future CO2 emissions from continued use of fossil fuels. Examination of these technologies exposes their limitations and shows that none offer a complete solution. Direct Capture technologies are needed to reduce CO2already in the air. However, some of those already proposed would lead to a very high cost of Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage (CCUS). Biofuels can help achieve reduction goals. However, two of the six carbons in sugar fermented to bioethanol produce CO2 per the stoichiometry of the reaction. Four carbons go to ethanol, which go back to the atmosphere upon burning in an engine. Thus, without CCUS, which most current bioethanol plants do not practice, bioethanol would at best be sustainable. The only way to permanently remove CO2 already in the atmosphere is to break the Carbon Cycle by growing biomass from atmospheric CO2 and permanently sequestering that biomass carbon. Permanent sequestration can be achieved in landfills modified to discourage biomass decomposition to CO2 and methane. Sequestration of biomass carbon is proposed as a simple and natural means of Direct Capture. Tree leaves are proposed as a good source of biomass for this purpose. Left unsequestered, leaves decompose with a short Carbon Cycle time constant releasing CO2 back to the atmosphere. Leaves represent a substantial fraction of the total biomass generated by a tree when integrated over a tree’s lifetime. High yield crops, such as switchgrass would also be a good source of biomass. The cost for growing switchgrass and sequestering it in a landfill is estimated to be on the order of $120/mt CO2 for a conservative yield of 3.5 tons/acre and may be reduced to as low as $88/mt CO2 if the development of high yield switchgrass is successful. This compares to an estimated cost of CCUS from the Steam Reforming of Methane to produce hydrogen of about $190/mt. Thus, sequestration of biomass is shown to be a natural, carbon efficient, and low-cost method of Direct Capture.
Keywords
Carbon Dioxide; Net Zero; Sequestration; Biomass; Direct Capture; Global Warming; Landfills; Forestry
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 June 2021
Commenter:
Jeffrey Amelse
Commenter's Conflict of Interests:
Author
Comment:
A new Secton 9 has been added to address some initial feedback that addresses the issues of nutrient replacement and practicality. All nutrients and micronutrients removed by sequesterd biomass can be returned to the earth by fertilization. We calculate the volume of switchgrass or tree leaves that would need to be sequestered to remove a Gt CO2 and show it to be less that the volume of coal currently being removed from the ground every year. Furthermore, while there is a lot of focus on carbon-free hydrogen, the amount of CO2 that would be sequestered by all of the new carbon-free hydrogen plants in the ground, announced through 2023, or projected by IEA for the period 2010-2030 is only on the order of 15 Mt/yr (not Gt/yr), and show that the amound of biomass that would need to be sequestered to remove the CO2 coming from those H2 plants with CCUS is well within reach.
Commenter: Jeffrey Amelse
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author