Carbon Farms

Perennial Crops for Food Security and Climate Change Mitigation

This equation sustains complex life on Earth.

What if it's also the solution (or at least one of them) to Climate Change?

The Problem

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2) levels have been rising since the industrial revolution. Removing the excess CO2 that gets emitted every year will be necessary in order to mitigate the effects of climate change. By harvesting carbon dioxide with Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture, we can solve food security issues associated with climate change and mitigate climate change at the same time. That's our value proposition.

The Keeling Curve

The Other Problem : Food Insecurity

Food Security

How are Humans Contributing to Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Gasoline (C8H18)

Product of Combustion

C8H18 + 12.5O8 => 8CO2 + 9H20

Deisel Fuel (C12H23)

Product of Combustion

4C12H23 + 71O2 => 48CO2 + 46H2O

Natural Gas/Methane (CH4)

Product of Combustion

CH4 + 2O2 => CO2 + 2H2O

Kerosene (Aviation Fuel) (CH12H26)

Product of Combustion

2CH12 + 37O2 => 24CO2 + 26H2O

Electricity Production

The majority of electricity production comes from burning Natural Gas and Coal.

The Solution

Photosynthesis

Photosythesis is the most logical and cost effective "technology" to mitigate the effects of too much Carbon Dioxide in the atomsphere. It can be deployed anywhere there is light and doesn't need to be licensed.

Source: Wikipedia

What if every meal you ate removed more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emitted?

You can only vote for the appropriate politicians a few times in your life. You can only buy an Electric Vehicle a few times in your life. You can only install Solar Panels a few times in your life.

However, you can choose to remove carbon from the atmosphere more than a few times in your life by eating the right kind of food. The nutritionally dense kind. The type of food that adds value to the natural and economic capital of this planet.

Agriculture is the solution. More specifically, Eco-Agriculture is the solution.

In most cases, practicing Eco-Agriculture will sequester more carbon than gets emmitted. Not only is Eco-Agriculture good for removing CO2, but the food it creates is more valuable in terms of nutritional content. Building a healthy soil profile leads to healthy plants, which leads to healthy animals (including Humans).

Killing the Keeling Curve

We know photosythesis can remove atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. The evidence is in the Keeling Curve (https://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/)

In the Summer the CO2 concentration goes down and in the Winter it goes up. The only logical explanation is that the Forests, Grasslands, Riparian zones come out of dormancy and start a process called Biomass Accumulation (i.e. Carbon Sequestration). Essentially, Mother Earth takes in a big breath of CO2 (via Photosythesis) in the Summer and humans keep, for a lack of a better term, "farting" more CO2 than can be absorbed each growing season.

So, in theory, if we can maximize the photosythetic potential accross the landscape, then we can Kill the Keeling Curve.

The Evidence

The Proof is in the Pudding, as they say, and the pudding is Regenerative Agriculture. Folks have been proving that it works for a long time, and it's time for others to follow suit. Check out some of our "heros" below.

How does Regenerative Agriculture Build Soil (and Human) Health & Sequester Carbon?

Cows, Carbon & Climate

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in Swoope, VA

We call this "mobstocking herbivorous solar conversion lignified carbon sequestration".
-Joel Salatin

Dr. Zach Bush of Farmer's Footprint

Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia and Patagonia Provisions

Carbon Reduction Plan

1. Reduce Synthetic Fertilizer and Pesticide Use

Why is this Important?

The easiest Carbon Dioxide to remove from the atmosphere is the one we never release by using fossil fuels.

NPK - Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus(P) Potassium (K)

Nitrogen (N)

  1. Nitrogen fertilizers are made from ammonia (NH3) produced by the Haber-Bosch process. In this energy-intensive process, natural gas (CH4) usually supplies the hydrogen, and the nitrogen (N2) is derived from the air. This ammonia is used as a feedstock for all other nitrogen fertilizers, such as anhydrous ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) and urea (CO(NH2)2). It takes about 25,000 BTU in order to produce 1 pound of Nitrogen. That's about 1/2 a gallon of gasoline.

  2. Nitrogen is very mobile and relatively unstable in the natural world. Once synthetic (and organic) fertilizers hit the ground, the binding elements (salts) start to react with the soil and will release N2O into the atomphere; which is potent greenhouse gase as well.

    The impact of 1 pound of N2O on warming the atmosphere is almost 300 times that of 1 pound of carbon dioxide


    EPA

    Nitrous oxide can result from various agricultural soil management activities, such as application of synthetic and organic fertilizers and other cropping practices, the management of manure, or burning of agricultural residues. Agricultural soil management is the largest source of N2O emissions in the United States, accounting for about 75 percent of total U.S. N2O emissions in 2019.


    EPA
Phosphorus (P)

Why is this Important?

  1. Mining elemental phosphorus takes an immense amount of energy.
  2. It's estimated that there is only 30-80 years supply of elemental phosphorus. Once it's gone. It's gone.

Phosphorus gets bound up in the soil from fertilizer fairly quickly and needs to be applied at the right time for the plants to absorb it.

Potassium (K) - Soluable Potash

2. Develop and Implement Regenerative Agriculture Systems to Support Initiative #1

Why is this Important?

Regenerative agriculture focuses on rebuilding organic matter (i.e. Carbon) and living biodiversity in soil, which produces increasingly nutrient-dense food year after year - while rapidly sequestering excess atmospheric carbon underground to reverse climate change.

It brings proven results for farmers to have a profitable business and livelihood. Conventional inputs become unnecessary, increased organic matter in the soil brings insect biodiversity which helps manage pest pressure and the end market for organic crops increases the overall value of their crop making product value the priority over the conventional method of purely valuing yield.

At a time when there are more farmer suicides and bankruptcies than ever, bringing back economic success and life on the farm has never been more important.

Rodale Institude - Regenerative Organic Agriculture Whitepaper

3. Establish a "Carbon Credit" Fund to Support Initiative #2

Why is this Important?

Farmers need to be incentivised to make changes to their current operation.

In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.
(Baba Dioum, 1968.)