Enhancing Carbon Sequestration and Reclamation of Degraded Lands with Fossil-Fuel Combustion By-Products
Project #  FWP-ESD05-005, 42211

Primary Performing Organization
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and the related changes in climate could be slowed if CO2 were transferred from the atmosphere to terrestrial ecosystems and stored there for extended periods.  This project is advancing the use of fossil fuel by-products to foster carbon sequestration in degraded lands.  Triple benefits can be anticipated:  (1) increasing carbon content of soils results in a decrease of net CO2 emissions, (2) waste products that currently must be dumped in a landfill at a cost would be put to beneficial use, and (3) marginal lands would be brought back into productive use as forests, pastures, agricultural lands, or recreational areas.  See diagram.  Conventional techniques for measuring carbon content in soil may not be cost-effective for sequestration projects.  Consequently, this project is examining the use of a laser spectroscopic technique for carbon and nitrogen analysis.

Alkaline fly ash amendments have been identified as having a significant ability to enhance formation of humus, the main process responsible for organic carbon sequestration in soils.  Laboratory and field studies indicate that, after 15–30 years, lands amended with fly ash have higher levels of carbon in the soil, and that amendment with bio-solids does not produce a consistent benefit. Further study of the role of unburned carbon may allow productive use of alkaline fly ash from low-NOx burners, which currently is relegated to landfills.  Project results will be summarized in a set of optimum site-management practices and practical guidelines that include policy, stakeholder, and technical considerations.

The objectives of this project are to:

• Examine the terrestrial carbon sequestration potential of lands that have been disturbed by mining, highway construction, or poor management practices.
• Identify the sequestration-enhancing effects of land amendment (additions to the soil) by a combination of solid by-products from fossil-fuel combustion and biological wastes from treatment facilities.
• Identify optimal selection and delivery strategies to maximize the contribution of such amendments to carbon sequestration.
• Evaluate existing experimental sites, conduct laboratory experiments to identify key amendment types and potential management strategies, and design field experiments to test and demonstrate carbon sequestration.
• Foster interaction between the scientific and user communities to maximize the application of the new knowledge generated by this project.

Contact:
Project Manager:  Heino Beckert, heino.beckert@netl.doe.gov

Related papers and publications:

• Enhancing Sequestration Reclamation Fact Sheet (pdf)