CARBON SEQUESTRATION

noun

a natural or artificial process by which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and held in solid or liquid form.

The CARBON CYCLE

Carbon is an essential chemical element that is widely used around the world. The carbon atom consists of 6 protons and 6 neutrons, which equals to an atomic mass of 12.

Due to it’s structural properties, rearranging carbon can lead it to becoming different forms of shapes.

Earth’s biosphere consists of water, nutrients and minerals. Plants are known as autotrophs, which produces it’s own food from inorganic molecules to assist growth.

During photosynthesis, autotrophs use sunlight energy to combine carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water from the soil to produce carbohydrates such as glucose. Oxygen is released

as a by-product through photosynthesis.

When sunlight hits the surface of a leaf, it takes the energy from the sunlight and converts 6 molecules of carbon dioxide gas with water to produce 6 carbon sugars known as glucose. Glucose is most important for cellular growth; it can also form starch and cellulose. Cellulose helps build the cell wall of a plant.

When a branch is cut off and used for fire, cellulose is converted by oxidation to be released as carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. This is comparable to burning of fossils fuels, which uses carbon that was quested from pre decomposed plant and animal tissues many decades ago releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

What is Blue Carbon?

Blue Carbon is stored in coastal and marine ecosystems. Currently, scientists around the world are working on the Blue carbon initiative. This is focussed on carbon in mangroves, tidal marshes, seagrasses and coastal ecosystems. These ecosystems are able to obtain and store large amounts of carbon within the plants or in the sediment below. When these ecosystems are lost or degraded, the sequestered carbon is the released back into the atmosphere.Besides being able to store large amounts of carbon, these ecosystems also provide large habitats for organisms to call home, enhances biodiversity and is shoreline protection for large events.