Chemical sensing and imaging in microfluidic pore network structures relevant to natural carbon cycling and industrial carbon sequestration

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay W. Grate ◽  
Changyong Zhang ◽  
Michael Wilkins ◽  
Marvin G. Warner ◽  
Norm C. Anheier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Carbon Cycling ◽  
Chemical Sensing ◽  
Pore Network ◽  
Network Structures ◽  
Industrial Carbon ◽  
Natural Carbon

The impact of porosity on organic matter cycling in a two-dimensional porous medium 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanbang Zou ◽  
Pelle Ohlsson ◽  
Edith Hammer
Keyword(s):  
Porous Medium ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Pore Network ◽  
Pore Scale ◽  
Decomposition Of Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Matter Cycling ◽  
The Impact

<p>Carbon sequestration has been a popular research topic in recent years as the rapid elevation of carbon emission has significantly impacted our climate. Apart from carbon capture and storage in e.g. oil reservoirs, soil carbon sequestration offers a long term and safe solution for the environment and human beings. The net soil carbon budget is determined by the balance between terrestrial ecosystem sink and sources of respiration to atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon can be long term stored as organic matters in the soil whereas it can be released from the decomposition of organic matter. The complex pore networks in the soil are believed to be able to "protect" microbial-derived organic matter from decomposition. Therefore, it is important to understand how soil structure impacts organic matter cycling at the pore scale. However, there are limited experimental studies on understanding the mechanism of physical stabilization of organic matter. Hence, my project plan is to create a heterogeneous microfluidic porous microenvironment to mimic the complex soil pore network which allows us to investigate the ability of organisms to access spaces starting from an initial ecophysiological precondition to changes of spatial accessibility mediated by interactions with the microbial community.</p><p>Microfluidics is a powerful tool that enables studies of fundamental physics, rapid measurements and real-time visualisation in a complex spatial microstructure that can be designed and controlled. Many complex processes can now be visualized enabled by the development of microfluidics and photolithography, such as microbial dynamics in pore-scale soil systems and pore network modification mimicking different soil environments – earlier considered impossible to achieve experimentally. The microfluidic channel used in this project contains a random distribution of cylindrical pillars of different sizes so as to mimic the variations found in real soil. The randomness in the design creates various spatial availability for microbes (preferential flow paths with dead-end or continuous flow) as an invasion of liquids proceeds into the pore with the lowest capillary entry pressure. In order to study the impact of different porosity in isolation of varying heterogeneity of the porous medium, different pore size chips that use the same randomly generated pore network is created. Those chips have the same location of the pillars, but the relative size of each pillar is scaled. The experiments will be carried out using sterile cultures of fluorescent bacteria, fungi and protists, synthetic communities of combinations of these, or a whole soil community inoculum. We will quantify the consumption of organic matter from the different areas via fluorescent substrates, and the bio-/necromass produced. We hypothesise that lower porosity will reduce the net decomposition of organic matter as the narrower pore throat limits the access, and that net decomposition rate at the main preferential path will be higher than inside branches</p>

scholarly journals Simulating natural carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean: on uncertainties associated with eddy parameterizations and iron deposition

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1561-1576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiner Dietze ◽  
Julia Getzlaff ◽  
Ulrike Löptien
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Carbon Uptake ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Biogeochemical Models ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon ◽  
Natural Carbon ◽  
Oceanic Carbon

Abstract. The Southern Ocean is a major sink for anthropogenic carbon. Yet, there is no quantitative consensus about how this sink will change when surface winds increase (as they are anticipated to do). Among the tools employed to quantify carbon uptake are global coupled ocean-circulation–biogeochemical models. Because of computational limitations these models still fail to resolve potentially important spatial scales. Instead, processes on these scales are parameterized. There is concern that deficiencies in these so-called eddy parameterizations might imprint incorrect sensitivities of projected oceanic carbon uptake. Here, we compare natural carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean simulated with contemporary eddy parameterizations. We find that very differing parameterizations yield surprisingly similar oceanic carbon in response to strengthening winds. In contrast, we find (in an additional simulation) that the carbon uptake does differ substantially when the supply of bioavailable iron is altered within its envelope of uncertainty. We conclude that a more comprehensive understanding of bioavailable iron dynamics will substantially reduce the uncertainty of model-based projections of oceanic carbon uptake.

Carbon sequestration as part of the global warming solution – Using software to combine environmental stewardship with economic benefit

2008 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-165
Author(s):  
Donna St. Jean Conti
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Economic Benefit ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Carbon Trading ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Carbon Sinks ◽  
Carbon Credits ◽  
Modeling Software ◽  
Natural Carbon

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of what carbon sequestration is, how forests are used as natural carbon sinks and how selling carbon credits is proving to be a potentially new revenue stream for organizations and other entities managing large tracks of forested area. Finally, this paper will show how Remsoft’s spatial planning and modeling software system enables efficient and effective management of forests as carbon sinks. Key words: carbon sequestration, carbon credits, carbon trading, forestry, forests as carbon sinks, spatial planning and modeling software, Remsoft

scholarly journals Carbon Footprint Analysis of Bamboo Scrimber Flooring—Implications for Carbon Sequestration of Bamboo Forests and Its Products

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Gu ◽  
Yufeng Zhou ◽  
Tingting Mei ◽  
Guomo Zhou ◽  
Lin Xu
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Carbon Cycling ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Bamboo Forest ◽  
Carbon Footprints ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
Bamboo Scrimber

Bamboo forest is characterized by large carbon sequestration capability and it plays an important role in mitigating climate change and global carbon cycling. Previous studies have mostly focused on carbon cycling and carbon stocks in bamboo forest ecosystems, whereas the carbon footprints of bamboo products have not received attention. China is the largest exporting country of bamboo flooring in the world. Estimating the carbon footprint of bamboo flooring is of essential importance for the involved enterprises and consumers to evaluate their own carbon footprints. In this study, we investigated the production processes of bamboo scrimber flooring for outdoor use, a typical bamboo flooring in China. Based on business-to-business (B2B) evaluation method, we assessed CO2 emission and carbon transfer ratio in each step of the production process, including transporting bamboo culms and producing and packing the products. We found that to produce 1 m3 of bamboo scrimber flooring, direct carbon emissions from fossil fuels during transporting raw materials/semi-finished products, from power consumptions during production, and indirect emissions from applying additives were 30.94 kg CO2 eq, 143.37 kg CO2 eq, and 78.34 kg CO2 eq, respectively. After subtracting the 267.54 kg CO2 eq carbon stocks in the product from the 252.65 kg CO2 eq carbon emissions derived within the defined boundary, we found that the carbon footprint of 1 m3 bamboo scrimber flooring was −14.89 kg CO2 eq. Our results indicated that the bamboo scrimber flooring is a negative carbon-emission product. Finally, we discussed factors that influence the carbon footprint of the bamboo flooring and gave suggestions on carbon emission reduction during production processes. This study provided a scientific basis for estimating carbon stocks and carbon footprints of bamboo products and further expanded knowledge on carbon cycling and lifespan of carbon in the bamboo forest ecosystem.

Reactive Transport Modeling of Natural Carbon Sequestration in Ultramafic Mine Tailings

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. vzj2011.0053 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.A. Bea ◽  
S.A. Wilson ◽  
K.U. Mayer ◽  
G.M. Dipple ◽  
I.M. Power ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Mine Tailings ◽  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Transport Modeling ◽  
Reactive Transport Modeling ◽  
Natural Carbon

scholarly journals Simulating natural carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean: on uncertainties associated with eddy parameterizations and iron deposition

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiner Dietze ◽  
Julia Getzlaff ◽  
Ulrike Löptien
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Carbon Uptake ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Biogeochemical Models ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon ◽  
Natural Carbon ◽  
Oceanic Carbon

Abstract. The Southern Ocean is a major sink for anthropogenic carbon. Yet, there is no quantitative consensus about how this sink will change when surface winds increase (as they are anticipated to do). Among the tools employed to quantify carbon uptake are global coupled ocean-circulation biogeochemical models. Because of computational limitations these models still fail to resolve potentially-important spatial scales. Instead, processes on these scales are parameterized. There is concern that deficiencies in these so-called eddy-parameterizations might imprint wrong sensitivities of projected oceanic carbon uptake. Here, we compare natural carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean simulated with contemporary eddy-parameterizations. We find that very differing parameterizations yield surprisingly similar oceanic carbon in response to strengthening winds. In contrast, we find (in an additional simulation) that the carbon uptake does differ substantially when the supply of bioavailable iron is altered within its envelope of uncertainty. We conclude that a more comprehensive understanding of bioavailable iron dynamics will substantially reduce the uncertainty of model-based projections of oceanic carbon uptake.

scholarly journals Let more big fish sink: Fisheries prevent blue carbon sequestration—half in unprofitable areas

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (44) ◽  
pp. eabb4848
Author(s):  
Gaël Mariani ◽  
William W. L. Cheung ◽  
Arnaud Lyet ◽  
Enric Sala ◽  
Juan Mayorga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Marine Fish ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Blue Carbon ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Carbon Pump ◽  
Natural Carbon ◽  
High Seas

Contrary to most terrestrial organisms, which release their carbon into the atmosphere after death, carcasses of large marine fish sink and sequester carbon in the deep ocean. Yet, fisheries have extracted a massive amount of this “blue carbon,” contributing to additional atmospheric CO2 emissions. Here, we used historical catches and fuel consumption to show that ocean fisheries have released a minimum of 0.73 billion metric tons of CO2 (GtCO2) in the atmosphere since 1950. Globally, 43.5% of the blue carbon extracted by fisheries in the high seas comes from areas that would be economically unprofitable without subsidies. Limiting blue carbon extraction by fisheries, particularly on unprofitable areas, would reduce CO2 emissions by burning less fuel and reactivating a natural carbon pump through the rebuilding of fish stocks and the increase of carcasses deadfall.

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