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I thought trees were somewhat ideal because the carbon sequestered in them can be used as long-lived lumber. If the kelp sequesters carbon but then it gets rele

I thought trees were somewhat ideal because the carbon sequestered in them can be used as long-lived lumber. If the kelp sequesters carbon but then it gets released immediately when it decomposes or someone eats it, then it doesn't really solve the problem. We need to be putting carbon back into the ground where we got it, or at least converting into forms where it lives a long time on the surface (decades or centuries).

westurner 4y ago
> I thought trees were somewhat ideal because the carbon sequestered in them can be used as long-lived lumber. This is why hempcrete is ideal. But hemp, by comparison, doesn't result in a root-bound tree farm for wind break and erosion control; hemp can be left down to return nutrients to the soil or for soil remediation as it's a very absorbent plant (that draws e.g. heavy metals out of soil and into the plant)
- quixoticelixer- 4y ago
  Why hempcrete when you could use wood? > Hemp can be left down to return nutrients to the soil or for soil remediation as it's a very absorbent plant (that draws e.g. heavy metals out of soil and into the plant) It won't remove heavy metals from the soil if you leave it there. You also can't turn it into a product if you leave it there.
vanderZwan 4y ago
I think the idea with kelp would be to harvest it and use it for soil creation, but again this is from vague memory of an informal conversation with some biologists
dogcomplex 4y ago
If you sink the kelp in the deep ocean apparently it likely takes quite a while for that carbon to make its way back through the ecosystem to the surface (decades, if not centuries). Don't have a source on that though. Alternatively, convert kelp to biofuel and biodegradable plastic, reducing need for both CO2-intensive industries
erk__ 4y ago
With seaweed at least there is also many possibilities for usage as building materials linke roofing, insulation and bricks https://youtu.be/g8SQNRXDklk https://youtu.be/g8SQNRXDklk
jaredhallen 4y ago
> We need to be putting carbon back into the ground where we got it, or at least converting into forms where it lives a long time on the surface (decades or centuries). Building soil organic matter does result in some amount of carbon remaining in the soil, and has the added benefit of increasing the productivity of the land. I imagine a phased approach where the first effort is to increase soil organic matter on a large scale, and then transition to using some of that improved soil to grow a second phase (maybe, trees, maybe hemp, maybe something else) to capture even more. It seems to me that widespread improvement of soil organic matter is the lower hanging fruit, so to speak.

westurner 4y ago

> I thought trees were somewhat ideal because the carbon sequestered in them can be used as long-lived lumber. This is why hempcrete is ideal. But hemp, by comparison, doesn't result in a root-bound tree farm for wind break and erosion control; hemp can be left down to return nutrients to the soil or for soil remediation as it's a very absorbent plant (that draws e.g. heavy metals out of soil and into the plant)

quixoticelixer- 4y ago
Why hempcrete when you could use wood? > Hemp can be left down to return nutrients to the soil or for soil remediation as it's a very absorbent plant (that draws e.g. heavy metals out of soil and into the plant) It won't remove heavy metals from the soil if you leave it there. You also can't turn it into a product if you leave it there.

vanderZwan 4y ago

I think the idea with kelp would be to harvest it and use it for soil creation, but again this is from vague memory of an informal conversation with some biologists

dogcomplex 4y ago

If you sink the kelp in the deep ocean apparently it likely takes quite a while for that carbon to make its way back through the ecosystem to the surface (decades, if not centuries). Don't have a source on that though. Alternatively, convert kelp to biofuel and biodegradable plastic, reducing need for both CO2-intensive industries

erk__ 4y ago

With seaweed at least there is also many possibilities for usage as building materials linke roofing, insulation and bricks https://youtu.be/g8SQNRXDklk https://youtu.be/g8SQNRXDklk

jaredhallen 4y ago

> We need to be putting carbon back into the ground where we got it, or at least converting into forms where it lives a long time on the surface (decades or centuries). Building soil organic matter does result in some amount of carbon remaining in the soil, and has the added benefit of increasing the productivity of the land. I imagine a phased approach where the first effort is to increase soil organic matter on a large scale, and then transition to using some of that improved soil to grow a second phase (maybe, trees, maybe hemp, maybe something else) to capture even more. It seems to me that widespread improvement of soil organic matter is the lower hanging fruit, so to speak.