Miscanthus carbon storage (CO2)
Carbon is at the heart of the global climate strategy.
Tackling climate change will require fundamental change in almost every aspect of human activity, with knock-on effects for the economy, society and the wider natural environment.
All life forms share the need for energy.
Life on Earth, in all its diverse forms from plants to animals to microscopic bacteria, shares a common need: energy. Whether it’s through photosynthesis, ingestion, or chemical processes, this energy sustains vital functions, propelling the intricate web of life forward.
Nature addresses this need by producing or absorbing carbohydrates in various forms, utilising its energy to sustain living organisms.
Similarly, human evolution confronted this imperative for survival and advancement. Initially, fire provided the energy, but as societies evolved, a scientific approach emerged, leading to the discovery and utilisation of increasingly complex tools, machines, and systems, culminating in the Industrial Revolution.
With each advancement, humanity’s demand for energy surged. During the early stages of industrialization, coal and later oil met these demands, collectively known as fossil fuels.
However, their utilisation has led to accumulative side effects, notably evidenced by the discovery of the greenhouse effect.
The Greenhouse Effect: From discovery to environmental Concern
200 years ago, in the 1820s while musing that Earth should be theoretically cooler than it actually is, Joseph Fourier discovered the Greenhouse effect.
As an explanation he proposed that the atmosphere kept our planet warm.
In 1859, John Tyndall, a prominent Irish physicist, later professor at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, identified water vapour and carbon dioxide as the main contributors to this effect, confirming Fourrier’s hypothesis.
In 1902, Swedish Nobel Prize-winning chemist Svante Arrhenius predicted how man-made emissions could affect global temperatures and eventually lead to human extinction. He warned the coal industry about it in 1912.
Guy Stewart Callendar’s temperature measurements and Charles David Keeling’s detection of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 1961 further confirmed these theories.
The main source of energy is still fossil fuels.
In spite of recent efforts, fossil fuels in their various forms (coal, gas, oil) remain the primary source of energy for humanity today. Their well-known side effects of emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere continue to contribute to global warming – the human-made greenhouse effect. This upsets the delicate atmospheric balance of the planet leading to climate change.
The constant development of humanity, together with technological innovations, some of which are designed to mitigate these effects, paradoxically increase energy consumption. In addition, a change in energy sources may take a long time for policymakers to respond.
Calls for less energy consumption go against the human nature of steady development. As the standard of living in the developing world continues to rise, so too does the demand for energy to power modern comfort. Access to energy is a basic human right, essential for socio-economic progress.
Energy needs to be used more efficiently. The challenge is not the consumption itself, it is the way the energy is produced that needs to change. This is where energy crops come in and where Miscanthus can play a role. Miscanthus is available now and allows the supply of carbon-negative biomass to existing infrastructure.
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Renewable energy from nature-inspired solutions
In recent decades, increased awareness has spurred collective action to combat these trends. Solar panels and wind turbines have gained ground to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. After ignoring the warnings for so long, the urgent need to remove harmful gases from the atmosphere to limit irreversible damage to the ecosystem has become apparent, especially as the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold looms (The Climate Change Committee’s position on “Slippage in promised climate policies in Scottland”, Mar. 2024).
While technologies exist to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere (DACC), they are not yet widely deployed. A straightforward way to extract CO2 from the atmosphere, using and making the most of existing technology and infrastructure, is to emulate nature’s solutions. In particular, the development of energy crops is a promising avenue that the European Commission is actively promoting. Bioenergy has huge potential to reduce emissions when used with carbon capture and storage technology (BECCS).
Energy crops, such as Miscanthus, offer numerous advantages, they:
- are carbon negative,
- thrive in various climates,
- require minimal maintenance and
- produce biomass compatible with existing energy infrastructure.
Importantly, they can be cultivated on lands unsuitable for food crops, reducing the perceived trade-off between food and energy production
Miscanthus scientifically proven to be carbon negative
Terravesta ATHENA TM Miscanthus giganteus biomass is carbon neutral in bale form at the factory gate, with all previous production and logistics emissions accounted for in the net in-ground carbon capture calculation.
Miscanthus has the potential to capture net 0.64 tonnes of carbon (2.35 tonnes CO2e) per year in the ground, the amount being proportional to the biomass yield but excludes the actual biomass itself.
In Terravesta’s current use case (unabated power generation) the carbon contained in the biomass is released to the atmosphere which is then reabsorbed by the crop during its next growth cycle.
Alternatively, if the crop is used for long-lived products such as fibres, building materials, biochar or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), this carbon saving can be added to the actual SOC sequestration, resulting in up to the equivalent of about 7 tonnes per hectare (about 0.5 t C/t biomass) or about 26 t/ha CO2e of additional carbon sequestration per hectare per year.
Definition: CO2e or CO2eq stands for CO2 equivalent.
The ability of Miscanthus to sequester carbon in the soil (SOC – soil organic carbon) is attributed to the absence of annual tillage, extensive root and rhizome biomass, and overwintering leaf fall when biomass is harvested in the spring. The most important factor influencing the ability of Miscanthus giganteus to remove carbon from the atmosphere is the dry matter yield and this is where Terravesta ATHENATM Miscanthus giganteus truly excels.
While Miscanthus may not be the only actor in the carbon story, it is playing an important role. Further, the existing farming infrastructure makes it accessible on most European farm settings.
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