1 team carbon sinks team: jordan adair, marisa cicale, mark hofberg, john junghans, heather kerrick,...
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Team Carbon Sinks
Team: Jordan Adair, Marisa Cicale, Mark Hofberg, John Junghans, Heather Kerrick, George Luo, Michael
Mercado, Sam Oliver, Sue O’Neill, Dan Remer, Matt Schulzinger, Ryan Shofnos, Hannah Tolley, Wesley Tse
Mentor: Dr. Ning Zeng/Jay GreggLibrarian: Marian Burright
Team Carbon Sinks will develop an effective, economically feasible, and environmentally friendly method for sequestration of carbon in dead trees.
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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Created by the United Nations
• Published Fourth Assessment Report in Spring 2007
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Statistics from 4th Assessment
• Increase in atmospheric CO2
concentrations over the past 50 years is the result of human activity
• By 2100, temperatures will rise between 2-11.5 degrees F and sea levels will rise 88 cm without changes in human activity
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Kyoto Protocol
• Part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• Goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
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Introduction to Project
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• Lack of research about sequestering carbon naturally stored in wood
• Used Dr. Zeng’s research to explore how to maximize forests’ carbon capacity
Aim of Project
• Develop a process that effectively slows the natural decomposition of wood by depriving it of oxygen
• Applicable throughout North Atlantic Forests
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Basic Assumptions
• Sequestered carbon will have monetary value in the future
• Companies or private land owners should be easily able to reproduce the process
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Hypothesis
• By placing biomass in an anaerobic environment, it is possible to slow the decay and effectively create a carbon sink
Methodology
• 76 Loblolly pine disks, 10 cm thick:– 15 for submergence in water– Bury the rest in 15 columns,
one disc at:– 10, 40, and 80 cm– Control on surface
• Measurements every 4 months
• Remove 3 columns, 3 discs from water.
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Water submersion
• Oyster cage will hold discs
• Will keep discs close to, but not in contact, with the bottom of the pond
• Regular analysis of water composition more necessary than soil analysis.
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Measurement
• Soil, water composition
• Measures of decay• Mass• Density• Carbon content
• These factors will be re-examined upon removal – discs will not be returned.
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• Eastern Shore representative of Northeast Coast– Previously farmed land
– Most prevalent in Atlantic Coast area
• Facilitates future use of our method
Eastern Shore
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Current Status
• What we have already done:– Found site– Obtained wood to be buried/submerged– Contact information for soil lab– Developed experimental methodology
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Future Plans
• Begin actual experiment within the month– Bury and submerge wood– Collect initial soil samples
• Contact soil labs, compare services
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