Danny Chen
From Soil to Waste, Organic Carbon from the Land
Like marine CDR(mCDR), soil organic carbon has received public attention when food security and safety become more important under extreme weather conditions. According to research by Daniel Evans et al.(2020), conservationally managed land will have a longer soil lifespan than conventionally managed farmland. With sustainable land management, humans could thrive on top of the survival issue.
In 2023, Verra approved a food loss and waste(FLW) methodology(VM0046) that reduces global impacts on freshwater, fertilizer, and greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions due to FLW. For innovative products such as beer made from discarded bread, the carbon credit methodology may provide an additional revenue stream that helps to build up a closed food cycle and maximize the ingredient usage.
Traditionally, organic farming is the most popular when people talk about organic carbon. Standard practices to reduce and avoid GHG emissions include precise irrigation, farm tiling reduction, farmland rotation, and fertilizer control. In 2024, the Verra registry has updated its latest revised methodology for rice projects that improve the quality of carbon credit projects(ex, avoid decreased crop yield and negative impacts on migratory birds). As we said repeatedly, the carbon credit market is not perfect but is evolving in a better direction.
Unlike the methods mentioned above, which store carbon from soil that requires line drawing between the bedrock and soil, biochar carbon credit is considered geochemically long-term stable. Although it can enhance soil fertility, sequester carbon, manage agricultural waste, and generate renewable energy, it may also lead to soil erosion and contain toxic materials from the original waste. To mitigate the risk, regulation standards such as The European Biochar Certificate(EBC) and World Biochar Standard(WBC) have released their guidelines on biochar usage.