Pierre Hohmann 🇺🇦Jan 8, 2023
Carbon farming: Are soil carbon certificates a suitable tool for climate change mitigation? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479722027153?via%3Dihub
Show threadB.

@plant_holobiont Thanks for sharing, Pierre. "Carbon farming" is a snake-oil sold by dodgy consultancy firms and a true danger. Besides the positive effects to accumulate C in #agricultural #soils (#soil structure, water permeability e.g.), soil C is highly volatile and BY NO MEANS a safe long term storage.
True climate-positive #farming 🚜:
1) abandon industrial meat production*
2) abandon synthetic fertilizers **
3) return #peatlands from ag land to wetlands ***

*no food to feed, produce plant based food such as #pulses for human consumption, #reforestation is "true carbon farming" **high amounts of #fossileenergy needed for production, high nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions when applied, 1 t of N2O = 300 t of #CO2 eq.! Incorporate pulses in rotations for soil fertility ***important source of #methane emissions

#agriculture #carbonstorage #climatechange #climatecatastrophy #organicagriculture #veganism

Jan 9, 2023 at 12:24amWeb
Show threadB.Jan 9, 2023
@plant_holobiont ...plus: farmers who did their homework and accumulated C in their soils have a lower chance to sell #carbon certificates because their soils are closer to saturation as those of their neighbours who depletet his/her carbon stocks in the past ➡️ unfair!
Show threadPierre Hohmann 🇺🇦Jan 9, 2023
@bhaug i guess that can be easily overcome by acknowledging good status-quos, i.e. pay a yearly bonus compared with the common average. Meaning, if you are doing better than the global/national average, you get compensated.
Show threadPierre Hohmann 🇺🇦Jan 9, 2023
@bhaug Hi Bene, I see that carbon farming can be easily abused for green washing.
Do you have references for your fertiliser statement. I am asking because I was under the impression that organic fertilisers would be more prone to GHG emissions compared with synthetic/mineral ones (due to less higher risk of overfertilisation and biological processes of the organic material).
I would also counterargue that soil C is (always) highly volatile). There are stable forms of C in soils.
Show threadB.Jan 31, 2023
@plant_holobiont Hi Pierre, sorry for my late reply.
Maybe my answer is too simplistic regarding synthetic fertilizers. So let me elaborate. The point is that they are linked to the petro-chemical (sometimes called 'conventional') way of agriculture that doesn't take externalities into account. In this open system, no limits are set regarding external inputs. While you're right about the theoretically higher precision that could be attained by that system in terms of fertilization, practically that never. Never. Happens and within the EU, we have total overfertilzation. Alternative approaches, like organic agriculture don't have externalities as they require locally closed nutrient cycles and the potential of overfertilization (and leaks of N2O) have natural limits.
1/n
Show threadB.Jan 31, 2023

@plant_holobiont
I don't quite understand your last point, so you're saying that soil C is always highly volatile but at the same time you say that there are at the same time stable forms? I don't understand. Yes, humins are quite stable, biochar is quite stable but the majority of components isn't.
Good reads:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.16570

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/23/australias-carbon-credit-scheme-largely-a-sham-says-whistleblower-who-tried-to-rein-it-in

Show threadPierre Hohmann 🇺🇦Jan 31, 2023
@bhaug I meant that soil C is not necessarily volatile. And stability has two components (i) the actual stable forms and (ii) the increase of unstable forms while maintained at high levels with management changes can also be a form of long-term stability.
Thanks for the clarifications on the use of mineral fertilisers. I thought they were expensive enough to limit overfertilisation. 1/2
Show threadPierre Hohmann 🇺🇦Jan 31, 2023
@bhaug Now in Catalonia, I see extremes like in the Netherlands where incredible amounts of factory farm manure are applied because they don't know what else to do with it.
I am part of a position paper on how to use factory farm manure in organic agriculture and the perceived bottlenecks are related to quality issues, which can be overcome. However, animal wellbeing is overseen and unlikely to be addressed any time soon. 2/2
Show threadB.Jan 31, 2023
@plant_holobiont Hi Pierre, yes it's a huge issue in Netherlands, we've in average 4 livestock units per ha, in my province it's even 10 (!). It's insane. As a comparson: Germany, with it's equally highly industrialized agricultural sector has 0.7 LU per ha. This manure N is mostly mineral fertilizer N that went over a detour through cereals or soybean into a pig's/chicken's/cow's colon. So the issue of industrial meat production and mineral fertilizer are linked. I think it would be a very bad idea to allow these externalities to enter organic farm cycles, not even talking about the ethical aspect of their origins. My opinion, doesn't have to be yours. Curious for the paper. Keep me posted!