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> It escapes me how anyone can consider it for long-term carbon storage/offsetting of excess atmospheric co2 derived from fossil fuels. There's been a lot of t

> It escapes me how anyone can consider it for long-term carbon storage/offsetting of excess atmospheric co2 derived from fossil fuels. There's been a lot of talk about burying it as it matures. I have a question though. Why can't we compost it and make soil out of it? I gather that this would release some carbon back to the atmosphere (in both anaerobic and aerobic composting) but wouldn't it be a net capture?

gruez 5y ago
>I gather that this would release some carbon back to the atmosphere (in both anaerobic and aerobic composting) but wouldn't it be a net capture? You can sequester carbon with any kind of organic matter. As long as the compost product contains carbon, you'll be sequestering it. The only problem is that if you just leave it around, plants will eventually extract it for nutrients, which means it will reenter the carbon cycle. To sequester it long term you have to prevent it from being used by lifeforms, eg. burying it really deep.
- zumu 5y ago
  The idea that we dug up a bunch of sequestered organic carbon and released it into the atmosphere, only to now try to re-sequester it and stick it back into the ground is really amusing to me.
  - Retric 5y ago
    Yes, it seems like a really dumb idea when we are also still extracting nearly pure carbon as coal from the ground to burn. I just picture someone trying to optimize it by buying coal to then burry.
    - zacmps 5y ago
      If you were Bezos this could be a strategy; driving up the price of coal by buying it and doing nothing with it would reduce carbon emissions. Not sure how effective it would be from a CO2/$ standpoint.
      - sitkack 5y ago
        At some point, someone will make money buying coal, dig it up and then bury it again as carbon credits. I am looking at you Goldman Sachs.
        jtsiskin 5y ago
        The existing carbon credit market already seems pretty close to that
redisman 5y ago
You can also make stuff out of it unless you grow some garbage trees
smileysteve 5y ago
Composting also creates CO2 (aerobic bacteria breaking down organic matter). There's some opportunity to consider Vermacompost or bokashi to reduce the CO2 output
- jonnydubowsky 5y ago
  I love seeing a Bokashi reference on HN! For those interested: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokashi_(horticulture) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokashi_(horticulture) https://www.teraganix.com/products/terakashi-bokashi https://www.teraganix.com/products/terakashi-bokashi
lazide 5y ago
It's not uncommon for some compost to be 'used up' (all carbon decomposed and nutrients used up) in a year or less. It's not very efficient as compared to, say, building a building out of a log, if what you want is carbon sequestration.

gruez 5y ago

>I gather that this would release some carbon back to the atmosphere (in both anaerobic and aerobic composting) but wouldn't it be a net capture? You can sequester carbon with any kind of organic matter. As long as the compost product contains carbon, you'll be sequestering it. The only problem is that if you just leave it around, plants will eventually extract it for nutrients, which means it will reenter the carbon cycle. To sequester it long term you have to prevent it from being used by lifeforms, eg. burying it really deep.

zumu 5y ago
The idea that we dug up a bunch of sequestered organic carbon and released it into the atmosphere, only to now try to re-sequester it and stick it back into the ground is really amusing to me.
- Retric 5y ago
  Yes, it seems like a really dumb idea when we are also still extracting nearly pure carbon as coal from the ground to burn. I just picture someone trying to optimize it by buying coal to then burry.
  - zacmps 5y ago
    If you were Bezos this could be a strategy; driving up the price of coal by buying it and doing nothing with it would reduce carbon emissions. Not sure how effective it would be from a CO2/$ standpoint.
    - sitkack 5y ago
      At some point, someone will make money buying coal, dig it up and then bury it again as carbon credits. I am looking at you Goldman Sachs.
      - jtsiskin 5y ago
        The existing carbon credit market already seems pretty close to that

redisman 5y ago

You can also make stuff out of it unless you grow some garbage trees

smileysteve 5y ago

Composting also creates CO2 (aerobic bacteria breaking down organic matter). There's some opportunity to consider Vermacompost or bokashi to reduce the CO2 output

jonnydubowsky 5y ago
I love seeing a Bokashi reference on HN! For those interested: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokashi_(horticulture) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokashi_(horticulture) https://www.teraganix.com/products/terakashi-bokashi https://www.teraganix.com/products/terakashi-bokashi

lazide 5y ago

It's not uncommon for some compost to be 'used up' (all carbon decomposed and nutrients used up) in a year or less. It's not very efficient as compared to, say, building a building out of a log, if what you want is carbon sequestration.