Carbon capture and storage - how to do it yourself

Whenever anybody tells me that "something must be done" about climate change, I tend to wonder whether there's something we can do ourselves.

A good example of this is carbon capture and storage, which theoretically allows us to keep burning coal in power stations - because nasty emissions will be buried underground and the atmosphere saved (hurrah!).

That's the theory, though there's no working example likely to be established in the UK for some time. But we don't need to wait for the dizzyingly huge and complex schemes of government and power companies: we can do it ourselves.

The secret is to make charcoal. The final product can be used in barbecues instead of imported charcoal, which often comes from endangered rainforest and also wastes energy in transportation around the world. Additionally, buying British charcoal makes the upkeep of British woodland more economically viable, as brilliantly explained here.

But how does this "capture and store" carbon, you ask. Well, burning the charcoal in a barbecue won't do that, but if you set aside a large amount of the charcoal and dig it into the ground you will stop the CO2 being released for a very long time, and also miraculously improve the quality of the soil. (See this fascinating debate about "bio-char", and how it may account for the extraordinary fertility of some parts of the Amazon rainforest.)

And how do you make your own charcoal? You make a simple but effective burner using an old oil drum, and gather wood yourself or beg for some from tree surgeons. If you don't feel entirely confident doing this yourself, you can always take a course, such as this one for Woodland Pioneers.

Comments

[David Beardsley]

Surely, it takes 10 ton of wood to make 2.5 ton of charcaol - and don't you have to chop down trees in the first place?

This superb practice has led to deforestation in many places in West Africa as they do not have an other resource to use except VERY old trees that are not replaced.

Or am I missing the point?

[Alan Addison]

Can I use plastic carrier bags for the source of my carbon?

[Christopher Mims]

We did a pretty comprehensive piece on terra preta / biochar, the technique you speak of, last year over at Scientific American:

Inspired by Ancient Amazonians, a Plan to Convert Trash into Environmental Treasure
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=5670236C-E7F2-99DF-3E2163B9FB144E40