Carbon Sequestration

A review of biological methods

Abstract

Carbon dioxide is a gas present in Earth’s atmosphere and is vital for fundamental life systems through the carbon cycle, such as photosynthesis. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen in the past 150 years, from 250 parts per million to 418 ppm, due to the excessive burning of fossil fuels for domestic and industrial purposes. Currently, global warming caused by this dramatic increase in anthropogenic emissions is one of the main environmental issues. In addition, high CO2 levels also result in changes in the amount of rain, eutrophication or acidification of water bodies, extinction of vulnerable species, and overall changes in ecosystems, which negatively impacts the human population. These problems can be countered through the extraction and storage of CO2 through both technological and biological means. As previously mentioned, the gas is needed for photosynthesis. This process is the most efficient known form of biosequestration as it involves photosynthetic organisms such as plants and some microorganisms storing carbon dioxide as biomass. This also occurs also in marine environments with phytoplankton and algae (R. Gayathri et al, 2021). In terrestrial ecosystems, trees and forests, as well as soil, are the main method of conservation. Carbon capture in soil is heavily affected by the microbes within the environment and the root microbiome of plants, trees and crops. This paper reviews the most common forms of biosequestration, agroforestry and afforestation, microbes, changes to anthropogenic agricultural practices, and marine forms of biosequestration through algal photosynthesis and ocean fertilization (N. Nayak et al, 2022).