In Between Times 2-23-2024
Regenerative ag at The North Face, Carbon capture at sea, Protecting mangroves, Tiny forests
Join us at Earthx2024 in Dallas this Earth Day. It’s the world’s largest green gathering!
Hilton Anatole | Dallas, Texas
April 22-26,2024
Early Bird Pricing Available Now Through 2/29/24!
Enter code: EARLYBIRD15 for 15% off conference tickets.
Click here to register.
Regenerative Agriculture: An investable key to cutting carbon emissions
Regenerative agriculture is all about healthier soil. That this healthier soil also does a good job of sequestering carbon is an added bonus. And it’s a big bonus.
(From Barron’s)
Instead of funneling capital to solar panel manufacturers and wind farms, some investors are achieving their climate goals by investing in approaches to farming that improve soil health, ecosystems, biodiversity, and promote fair labor practices…
…Farmers, entrepreneurs, and investors cite access to capital as the “Number one challenge facing the transition to regenerative agriculture,” the authors wrote. Farmers need money for buying land, but also for planting and harvesting, and for equipment and sophisticated technology for making the transition and monitoring progress…
…On a federal level, the IRA provided one key policy boost by authorizing US$18 billion in funding for “climate-smart agriculture and forestry” activities that cut greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon.
Click here for the article.
Why The North Face is changing where it gets its rubber and cotton
We will state for the record that North Face makes some pretty amazing stuff. I have a 10 year old down jacket that has been my go-to hiking jacket for all of that time. Snow, rain, whatever, it is great. We have no affiliation of course, but we think the quality of their product likely reflects the quality of the company. North Face certainly seems inclined in the right direction.
(From GreenBiz)
Cotton has a history of water-intensive cultivation, extensive pesticide use and soil degradation. Regenerative cotton addresses these issues through holistic farming practices that prioritize soil health and biodiversity. The North Face has embraced this regenerative approach, recognizing that sustainable cotton production must include practices such as cover cropping, crop rotation and minimal tillage. To scale regenerative cotton cultivation, The North Face is working with its existing and new supply chain partners and released its first clothing lines containing regenerative cotton in 2023.
Rubber, critical in outdoor footwear and accessories, poses environmental challenges including deforestation, biodiversity loss, and negative impacts on local communities. Regenerative rubber cultivation focuses on supporting healthy ecosystems, preserving biodiversity and contributing positively to local communities. Agroforestry, growing rubber trees alongside other vegetation, helps mimic natural ecosystems, reducing clear-cutting, promoting a balanced habitat for wildlife and creating supplemental income for farmers who plant cash crops in their rubber plantations.
Click here for the article.
Researchers combine geothermal energy with CO2 capture to create a novel self-sustaining loop
Creating sustainable and repeatable loops is what a circular economy is all about.
(From AnthropocenMagazine.com)
Martina Leveni and Jeffrey Bielicki set out to investigate whether carbon capture and geothermal energy technologies could benefit each other. In their strategy, carbon dioxide captured from air would be stored in deep underground geologic formations containing rock and saltwater.
The natural heat in these deep saline aquifers heats up the carbon dioxide, part of which is brought up to the surface. The heat could be used directly, or be converted into electricity, to power the DAC process.
For such a system to work in a self-sustaining way without needing external energy, the geothermal heat extraction system could first need some priming, the researchers say. That means about five years of storing carbon captured from concentrated sources such as smokestacks. After that, the facility would be able to produce enough renewable energy to start extracting the greenhouse gas from the air.
Click here for the article.
Carbon capture tech can suck up a container ship's CO2 while it travels
We reported on this a couple of weeks ago but it deserves another look. This technology appears ready for prime time, or very nearly so. Which is great because shipping is a significant emitter of global carbon.
(From IFLscience)
“While still early days, our first pilot project proves that our technology works and that it is possible to take on this huge, complex problem,” Alisha Fredriksson, CEO and co-founder of Seabound, told The Next Web.
“This breakthrough demonstrates that the shipping industry doesn’t have to wait for new fuels or solutions to reduce its emissions in the future – we can start to capture carbon from the existing fleet right now,” explained Fredriksson.
Off the back of this success, Seabound now aims to build a “bigger and better” system capable of removing up to 95 percent of the carbon dioxide, which they say could arrive on the market by next year.
Click here for the article.
Viruses that can help ‘dial up’ carbon capture in the sea
This is an interesting intersection of virology, gene sequencing, AI, oceanography, and climate science. It’s cutting edge and pretty wild.
(From Ohio State News)
Sullivan was the virus coordinator for the Tara Oceans Consortium, a three-year global study of the impact of climate change on the world’s oceans and the source of 35,000 water samples containing the microbial bounty. His lab focuses on phages, viruses that infect bacteria, and their potential to be scaled up in an engineering framework to manipulate marine microbes into converting carbon into the heaviest organic form that will sink to the ocean floor.
“Oceans soak up carbon, and that buffers us against climate change. CO2 is absorbed as a gas, and its conversion into organic carbon is dictated by microbes,” Sullivan said. “What we’re seeing now is that viruses target the most important reactions in these microbial community metabolisms. This means we can start investigating which viruses could be used to convert carbon toward the kind we want.
Click here for the article.
Carbon emissions from the destruction of mangrove forests predicted to increase by 50,000% by the end of the century
This past January we wrote;
“Consider this quote from the attached article; “a single square mile of mangroves can lock away as much climate-warming carbon as the annual emissions of 90,000 cars.”. That is amazing. Being wiser about the protection (and sometimes destruction) of carbon reducing ecosystems is key as we move forward. It may be more key than we even imagined.
If what is reported above (mangrove sequestration) at Conservation.org holds true, consider that there are 283,400,000 registered vehicles in the USA. That would mean that 3148.4 square miles of mangroves would sequester enough carbon for the entire US fleet.”
This is a very interesting statistic and definitely indicates that protection of mangroves should generally be a priority. It is a simple carbon mitigation strategy that has the added benefit of protecting coastlines from erosion. Places that have mangroves as buffers are much more resilient to to things like hurricanes than coastlines without mangroves.
(From Phys.org)
Mangrove forests store a large amount of carbon, particularly in their soils, however human development in these areas has led to the degradation of these carbon stocks. Over the past 20 years, a substantial number of mangrove forests have been replaced by agriculture, aquaculture and urban land management, leading global mangrove carbon stocks to decline by 158.4 million tons—releasing the same level of carbon emissions as flying the entire US population from New York to London…
… "This work underscores the importance of protecting existing mangroves, especially in areas with high population density. Mangrove forests are critical to the regulation of carbon sequestration, and it is important that we protect them. The first step is to understand the impact of human populations and activities on mangrove forest carbon stocks."
Click here for the article.
The mighty benefits of 'tiny forests'
"This forest grows as a collective. If the same trees, same species, would have been planted independently, it won't grow so fast. And this is how we create a 100-year-old forest in just 10 years."
Imagine planting a broad array of local tree species in small barren areas across a city. In a relatively short period of time these formerly barren areas become small patches of wild green space. This new green space helps to mitigate the urban heat island effect and provides a home for wildlife like birds and pollinators.
It’s a concept that started in Japan and has since spread westward.
(From The CBC)
The tiny forests concept is simple allure in overheated, concrete-heavy cities: Assemble a group of volunteers, clear a plot of land and prepare the soil.
Then, plant a variety of native shrubs and trees in a small area — and watch them grow.
In their early years, the trees and shrubs grow quickly as they fight for light. Because of that, research suggests they capture more carbon, more quickly than in conventional tree planting.
Tiny forests also require little maintenance and weeding after the first few years, and quickly become a dense, multi-layered habitat for birds, butterflies and insects.
"It's a small area with a lot of ecological benefits,"…
Click here for the article.
Tiny forests in action.
EVENT
March 16th
Red/Blue Workshop
Braver Angels
Location: Online
Description
Join us for a free workshop that brings together Red (conservative or Republican-leaning) and Blue (liberal or Democratic-leaning) citizens for moderated activities and structured discussions that reduce stereotyped thinking, clarify disagreements, build relationships and find common ground through listening and learning rather than declaring and debating.
Schedule
This is an all day, online workshop with an hours break for lunch. In the morning session, participants get to know one another and a foundation of trust is established. This paves the way for a deeper dive into authentic, respectful and thought-provoking questions and answers in the afternoon session.
NOTE: It is important to be available and committed for both sessions.
Who can attend?
Anyone interested in developing a deeper understanding of, and connection with, people whose political beliefs differ from their own is welcome. There are two ways to join a Red/Blue Workshop: as a Participant or as an Observer.
Participants engage in small – and large – group discussions with individuals of both the same and different political persuasions. Participants identify as “red” or “blue” leaning. We strive for an equal balance of red and blue participants: 6 to 8 people on each side.
Observers watch and listen, but do not participate in the discussions.
Workshop Goals
To better understand the experiences and beliefs of those on the other side of the political divide;
To seek out areas of common ground in addition to acknowledging and respecting difference;
To gain insights that might help to heal the increasing polarization in our community and the nation
Questions? Contact Yvonne Boyd at yboyd@braverangels.org