Deborah J. Comstock
The Monroe News
Sat, February 19, 2022,
Deborah J. Comstock
It is not often that a positive parallel can be drawn between curbing greenhouse emissions and agriculture, but one solution may be on the horizon.
Let’s start with the facts, however. Industrial scale farming is one of the biggest sources of pollution to the planet, according to a recently released New York Times video entitled “Meet the People Who Are Killing Our Planet”.
In their video, they indicate that one-third of all greenhouse gases in the world are linked to food production. That pollution is equivalent to the emissions of 143 million cars. These emissions come from three agricultural practices, namely, plowing or tilling the soil, fertilizer applications and livestock (methane) production.
Food production, or the industry of agriculture, has $116 billion in profits, they estimate, but there is very little regulation to the food industry due to the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington. Feeding the planet does not bode well with these kind of statistics, unless new farm practices can be identified and implemented.
According to Yale Environment 360, adding rock dust onto the soil can help get and trap carbon into the ground. A group of researchers from Cornell University and the University of California-Davis are studying the effects of farms applying silicate (basalt) rocks, pulverized to a fine powder, to soil to stop the massive emissions attributable to the farm industry. This research is not exclusive to the U.S., as scientists across the globe are studying the effects of spreading pulverized basalt on a number of crops, including corn, sugar cane, soybean and alfalfa fields.
Since agriculture is responsible for nearly a quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, this technique could stem the more drastic consequences of climate change. According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “rocks naturally remove 1 gigaton (1 billion tons) of carbon dioxide a year from the atmosphere. If applied to croplands globally, rock dust could suck an estimated 2 to 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year.”
Basalt is a byproduct of mining and manufacturing operations and is found all over the world. According to the Cornell study, some estimates show there is enough basalt rock dust stockpiled to treat the planet’s cropland for several years. Basalt — containing magnesium, calcium and silica among other components — when pulverized and applied, dissolves in water and with carbon forms bicarbonates, which stay in water for thousands of years, eventually making their way to the oceans where they precipitate out as limestone and stay on the sea floor for millions of years. The rock dust may also affect the nitrogen cycle, allowing farmers to apply less nitrogen fertilizers, thereby reducing the effects of fertilizer runoff that affects our streams, lakes and large waterways.
But rock dust affects more than just climate. Field tests on corn and alfalfa show increases in crop yields, which releases other nutrients like phosphorus and potassium. In some studies, yields are 30% higher, which is encouraging to farmers to decrease inputs while increasing harvest. At some point, if farmers are paid for the amount of carbon they sequester, this could be a win-win with increased harvest and payment to capture carbon.
These preliminary studies could prove pivotal to the industry of agriculture and climate enthusiasts. And, with so much rock salt available on the planet, applying these techniques should start now.
Deborah Comstock is a small farm owner in Adrian, and a member of Lenawee Indivisible.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Deborah Comstock: Rock dust used in agriculture can remove CO2
Sat, February 19, 2022,
Deborah J. Comstock
It is not often that a positive parallel can be drawn between curbing greenhouse emissions and agriculture, but one solution may be on the horizon.
Let’s start with the facts, however. Industrial scale farming is one of the biggest sources of pollution to the planet, according to a recently released New York Times video entitled “Meet the People Who Are Killing Our Planet”.
In their video, they indicate that one-third of all greenhouse gases in the world are linked to food production. That pollution is equivalent to the emissions of 143 million cars. These emissions come from three agricultural practices, namely, plowing or tilling the soil, fertilizer applications and livestock (methane) production.
Food production, or the industry of agriculture, has $116 billion in profits, they estimate, but there is very little regulation to the food industry due to the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington. Feeding the planet does not bode well with these kind of statistics, unless new farm practices can be identified and implemented.
According to Yale Environment 360, adding rock dust onto the soil can help get and trap carbon into the ground. A group of researchers from Cornell University and the University of California-Davis are studying the effects of farms applying silicate (basalt) rocks, pulverized to a fine powder, to soil to stop the massive emissions attributable to the farm industry. This research is not exclusive to the U.S., as scientists across the globe are studying the effects of spreading pulverized basalt on a number of crops, including corn, sugar cane, soybean and alfalfa fields.
Since agriculture is responsible for nearly a quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, this technique could stem the more drastic consequences of climate change. According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “rocks naturally remove 1 gigaton (1 billion tons) of carbon dioxide a year from the atmosphere. If applied to croplands globally, rock dust could suck an estimated 2 to 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year.”
Basalt is a byproduct of mining and manufacturing operations and is found all over the world. According to the Cornell study, some estimates show there is enough basalt rock dust stockpiled to treat the planet’s cropland for several years. Basalt — containing magnesium, calcium and silica among other components — when pulverized and applied, dissolves in water and with carbon forms bicarbonates, which stay in water for thousands of years, eventually making their way to the oceans where they precipitate out as limestone and stay on the sea floor for millions of years. The rock dust may also affect the nitrogen cycle, allowing farmers to apply less nitrogen fertilizers, thereby reducing the effects of fertilizer runoff that affects our streams, lakes and large waterways.
But rock dust affects more than just climate. Field tests on corn and alfalfa show increases in crop yields, which releases other nutrients like phosphorus and potassium. In some studies, yields are 30% higher, which is encouraging to farmers to decrease inputs while increasing harvest. At some point, if farmers are paid for the amount of carbon they sequester, this could be a win-win with increased harvest and payment to capture carbon.
These preliminary studies could prove pivotal to the industry of agriculture and climate enthusiasts. And, with so much rock salt available on the planet, applying these techniques should start now.
Deborah Comstock is a small farm owner in Adrian, and a member of Lenawee Indivisible.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Deborah Comstock: Rock dust used in agriculture can remove CO2
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