Advanced Carbon Measurements for Terrestrial Measurement, Mitigation, and Verification
Project # FWP-02FE18

Primary Performing Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory

To determine the progress of greenhouse gas, including carbon dioxide (CO₂), abatement efforts, carbon concentration monitoring is required. Terrestrial sequestration is no exception.  The term terrestrial sequestration refers to the expansion of natural “sinks” for CO₂ absorption, including forests and soils.  In this area, the Advanced Carbon Measurements (ACM) project pursues two goals:  (1) advancing methods to measure soil carbon, and (2) developing methods that increase carbon sequestration rates.

This project is in the second phase of a terrestrial sequestration project.  Phase I demonstrated that new instrumentation effectively improved carbon measurement in soils and evaluated carbon sequestration processes.  Phase II is designed to evaluate additional carbon analysis methods to improve measurement capability, and to move mature technologies into commercial use.  Insert photographs.

Project Phase II activities are designed to:

• Commercialize bench-top and portable laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.
• Evaluate new methods and their capabilities to measure, mitigate leakage of, and verify carbon in different systems.
• Demonstrate best reclamation practices for western mine lands, to enhance carbon sequestration.
• Conduct field applications of measurement and verification technologies at mine sites and degraded lands.
• Conduct field demonstrations and comparisons of advanced technology in terrestrial systems in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service.

Although the project concentrates on developing tools to measure the effectiveness of terrestrial sequestration, additional benefits of the ACM project will be to further demonstrate the importance of returning degraded lands to production through improved land use management — all of which can help optimize the soil/carbon cycle.

Contact:
Project Manager:  Darin Damiani, darin.damiani@netl.doe.gov

Related Papers and Publications:

• Advanced Measurement for Terrestrial MM&V Fact Sheet [PDF]