Experiments on the ocean sequestration of fossil fuel CO2: pH measurements and hydrate formation

We have carried out a series of in situ experiments to investigate the formation of a CO₂ hydrate (CO₂:5.75 H₂O) for the purpose of evaluating scenarios for ocean fossil fuel CO₂ disposal with a solid hydrate as the sequestered form. The experiments were carried out with a remotely operated vehicle in Monterey Bay at a depth of 619 m. pH measurements made in close proximity to the hydrate–seawater interface showed a wide range of values, depending upon the method of injection and the surface area of the hydrate formed. Rapid injection of liquid CO₂ into an inverted beaker to form a flocculant mass of hydrate resulted in pH initially as low as 4.5 within a few centimeters of the interface, decaying slowly over 1–2 h towards normal seawater values as dense CO₂ rich brine drained from the hydrate mass. In a second experiment, slower injection of the liquid CO₂ to produce a simple two-layer system with a near planar interface of liquid CO₂ with a thin hydrate film yielded pH values indistinguishable from the in situ ocean background level of 7.6. Both field and laboratory results now show that the dissolution rate of a mass of CO₂ hydrate in seawater is slow but finite.     

不同植被类型对福建三沙湾潮滩有机碳埋藏的影响

潮滩作为重要的湿地类型和高效的有机碳汇备受关注,近期围垦、养殖等人类活动和互花米草入侵对潮滩生化环境和有机碳埋藏产生了重要影响.本研究选取了福建三沙湾三处不同植被类型的潮滩各取得沉积物短柱样,测定沉积物的总有机碳含量(TOC)、稳定碳同位素(δ13C),结合210Pbex测试计算的沉积速率,估算了不同区域的有机碳埋藏通...     

中国土壤有机碳库及其演变与应对气候变化

 通过综述和评价中国土壤,特别是农田土壤有机碳库（以下简称碳库）的现状与演变态势, 讨论其对我国应对气候变化的意义, 提出了我国土壤碳库及其演变与应对气候变化的基本国情是：1) 我国土壤背景碳储量较低且区域分布不均衡;2) 我国土壤固碳效应明显,未来固碳减排潜力显著;3) 技术和政策是实现和提高我国土壤碳汇、促进我国应对气候变化能力建设的重要途径。建议进一步加强对我国农田土壤固碳减排的研发投入, 完善农业应对气候变化的相关政策和鼓励措施体系,研究构建气候友好的新型农业,以期在提高和稳定农业生产力与应对气候变化能力上获得双赢。     

基于模型模拟的中国秸秆还田固碳潜力空间格局分析（英文）

农作物秸秆还田作为农田土壤和养分管理的推荐做法之一,对于土壤有机碳(SOC)固定和CO_2减排具有重要意义。本研究利用环境政策综合气候模型(EPIC)模拟了4种作物秸秆还田情形下2001年至2010年中国农田表层土壤有机碳变化及其空间格局。模拟结果显示,秸秆完全移除(CR0%)下的土壤有机碳损失为28.89 Tg yr^–1,当前30%的秸秆还田(CR30%)能够减缓22.38 Tg C yr^–1的碳损失。若秸秆还田率从30%提高至50%(CR50%)乃至75%(CR75%),中国农田表层土壤将变为净碳汇。中国农田表层土壤固碳潜力在CR50%和CR75%情形下分别可达25.53 Tg C yr^–1和52.85 Tg C yr^–1,且在不同农业区存在空间异质性。单位面积土壤固碳潜力在西北和华北地区最高,而华东最低。华北地区具有最高的区域固碳潜力。在这十年间,CR50%和CR75%情形下增加的土壤表层有机碳相当于减少了1.4%和2.9%的中国CO_2排放总量。总之,我们建议鼓励我国农民将原本直接焚烧或用作家用燃料的秸秆返还田间以改善土壤性质和减缓大气CO_2增加,尤其是华北地区更应推行这一举措。     

Land restoration in food security programmes: synergies with climate change mitigation

Food-insecure households in many countries depend on international aid to alleviate acute shocks and chronic shortages. Some food security programmes (including Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program–PSNP – which provides a case study for this article) have integrated aid in exchange for labour on public works to reduce long-term dependence by investing in the productive capacity and resilience of communities. Using this approach, Ethiopia has embarked upon an ambitious national programme of land restoration and sustainable land management. Although the intent was to reduce poverty, here we show that an unintended co-benefit is the climate-change mitigation from reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increased landscape carbon stocks. The article first shows that the total reduction in net GHG emissions from PSNP’s land management at the national scale is estimated at 3.4 million?Mg?CO₂e?y^?1 – approximately 1.5% of the emissions reductions in Ethiopia’s Nationally Determined Contribution for the Paris Agreement. The article then explores some of the opportunities and constraints to scaling up of this impact.

Key policy insights

• Food security programmes (FSPs) can contribute to climate change mitigation by creating a vehicle for investment in land and ecosystem restoration.

• Maximizing mitigation, while enhancing but not compromising food security, requires that climate projections, and mitigation and adaptation responses should be mainstreamed into planning and implementation of FSPs at all levels.

• Cross-cutting oversight is required to integrate land restoration, climate policy, food security and disaster risk management into a coherent policy framework.

• Institutional barriers to optimal implementation should be addressed, such as incentive mechanisms that reward effort rather than results, and lack of centralized monitoring and evaluation of impacts on the physical environment.

• Project implementation can often be improved by adopting best management practices, such as using productive living livestock barriers where possible, and increasing the integration of agroforestry and non-timber forest products into landscape regeneration.

     

Trade-offs between carbon,water, soil and food in Guanzhong-Tianshui economic region from remotely sensed data

It is important to ensure the efficient supply of land ecosystem services when the competition for land is increasing. In this paper we simulated the ecosystem services function under two scenarios, including carbon sequestration, agricultural production, water and soil conservation, and analyzed the tradeoffs among these ecosystem services in Guanzhong-Tianshui region from 2000 to 2050. Then the productive efficiency of ecosystem services was assessed under two scenarios and compared their production possibility frontiers (PPFs). Through the simulation analysis of their optimum allocation, we also provide the scientific evidence to the development of ecosystem. The natural rules were revealed that if these trade-offs emphasize the potential to sequester carbon in the landscape, along with very little loss of agricultural production, much more water is used. It could be identified to adhere to combine the exploitation and utilization, remediation and protection for land to promote the effective circulation of land eco-system, and meet the society’s preferences for land ecosystem service function by adjusting the use of multiple eco-services.     

中国喀斯特关键带岩石风化碳汇评估及其生态服务功能

喀斯特地区的岩石风化固碳被认为是全球遗漏碳汇之一,中国喀斯特地区的分布面积达344万km²,目前对其岩溶碳汇缺乏精确、系统的评估,对碳汇产生的机制仍存在争议。本文通过对喀斯特地区碳汇研究的回顾,详细介绍了适用于喀斯特地区固碳速率的估算方法,并对喀斯特地区的岩石风化碳汇进行再评估,然后将地球关键带科学概念引入喀斯特生态系统,阐述喀斯特关键带碳汇研究对生态系统服务和功能的意义。研究结果表明,中国喀斯特地区每年因岩溶作用产生的碳汇为4.74 Tg C yr^-1,未来中国需要加强岩石—土壤—水体—生物—大气复杂交互系统的基础数据收集,以明确各界面碳通量,对喀斯特关键带碳汇进行多尺度、多方法、全方位联合评估,在改善喀斯特生态系统功能、科学管理区域和国家碳收支及全球变化研究等方面为政府和学者提供参考。     

2005-2013年中国新增造林植被生物量碳库固碳潜力分析

本文利用2005-2013年林业统计年鉴中每个省市新造林面积和遥感分类提取得到的2010年土地覆被类型,结合公开发表的各类森林生长方程和各个时期的森林存活率,估算了中国新造林在2005-2100年生物量碳库变化及其固碳潜力。结果表明：2005-2013年中国新造林面积达到4394×10⁴ hm²,在自然生长状况下,到2020年新造林蓄积量增加16.8亿m³,生物量增加1.6 Pg,生物量碳库0.76 Pg C;新造林生物量碳库在2005-2100年中将增加2.11 Pg C,相当于目前现有森林生物量碳库的25%,约是过去20年森林总碳汇的1.5倍;新造林生物量碳密度逐年增加,最高达到48.1 Mg/hm²。整合林业统计年鉴以及遥感解译的森林类型对新造林生物量固碳潜力分析,研究表明新造林具有较大的碳汇潜力,对中国现有森林碳汇平衡有重要贡献。     

Past and future carbon sequestration benefits of China’s grain for green program

Carbon sequestration through ecological restoration programs is an increasingly important option to reduce the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. China’s Grain for Green Program (GGP) is likely the largest centrally organized land-use change program in human history and yet its carbon sequestration benefit has yet to be systematically assessed. Here we used seven empirical/statistical equations of forest biomass carbon sequestration and five soil carbon change models to estimate the total and decadal carbon sequestration potentials of the GGP during 1999–2050, including changes in four carbon pools: aboveground biomass, roots, forest floor and soil organic carbon. The results showed that the total carbon stock in the GGP-affected areas was 682 Tg C in 2010 and the accumulative carbon sink estimates induced by the GGP would be 1697, 2635, 3438 and 4115 Tg C for 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050, respectively. Overall, the carbon sequestration capacity of the GGP can offset about 3%–5% of China’s annual carbon emissions (calculated using 2010 emissions) and about 1% of the global carbon emissions. Afforestation by the GGP contributed about 25% of biomass carbon sinks in global carbon sequestration in 2000–2010. The results suggest that large-scale ecological restoration programs such as afforestation and reforestation could help to enhance global carbon sinks, which may shed new light on the carbon sequestration benefits of such programs in China and also in other regions.     

Small Scale Field Study of an Ocean CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Plume

We have carried out a small-scale (∼20 l) CO₂ sequestration experiment off northern California (684 m depth, ∼5°C, background ocean pH ∼7.7) designed as an initial investigation of the effects of physical forcing of the fluid, and the problem of sensing the formation of a low pH plume. The buoyant CO₂ was contained in a square frame 1.2 m high, exposing 0.21 m² to ocean flow. Two pH electrodes attached to the frame recorded the signal; a second frame placed 1.9 m south of the CO₂ pool was also equipped with two recording pH electrodes. An additional pH electrode was held in the ROV robotic arm to probe the fluid interface. Local water velocities of up to 40 cm sec⁻¹ were encountered, creating significant eddies within the CO₂ box, and forcing wavelets at the fluid interface. This resulted in rapid CO₂ dissolution, with all CO₂ being depleted in a little more than 2 days. The pH record from the sensor closest (∼10 cm) to the CO₂ showed many spikes of low pH water, the extreme value being ∼5.9. The sensor 1 m immediately below this showed no detectable response. The electrodes placed 1.9 m distant from the source also recorded very small perturbations. The results provide important clues for the design of future experiments for CO₂ disposal and biogeochemical impact studies. These include the need for dealing with the slow CO₂ hydration kinetics, better understanding of the fluid dynamics of the CO₂-water interface, and non-point source release designs to provide more constant, controlled local CO₂ enrichments within the experimental area. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.