By adopting a circular economy, carbon emissions could be
cut by nearly 70 percent by 2030
In a circular economy, products are designed for ease of
recycling, reuse, disassembly, and remanufacturing instead
of the “take, make, and dispose” model that’s widely used
now
One-third of the surplus carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
stems from poor farming processes that contribute to the
loss of carbon from farmlands
By Dr. Mercola
Carbon erosion from the land and into the water and air are
creating a very unstable environment. Removing the renewable
grasslands and forests that can not only sustain but also
regenerate our soils and solidify this fragile carbon balance is
a major part of the problem.
This carbon erosion from our land is only increasing, and our
economy will mean nothing if we have nothing left – that is the
direction we are heading and doing so quickly. Estimates of
50-60 years remaining have been made regarding our topsoil and
aquifers. While it is hard to believe in two generations we
could be in this position, it is the reality we face if changes
are not made quickly.
A new study from The Club of Rome suggests that turning our
economy into a circular one – that is, one that values re-using
rather than using up – could also cut energy waste drastically.
A Circular Economy Could Cut Waste by 70 Percent
By doing away with wasteful lifestyles and business practices
and greatly enhancing resource efficiency, The Club of Rome
argues that we could ward off further ecosystem decline and
avoid environmental disaster. According to their report, The
Circular Economy and Benefits for Society:1
"The proposition is that a circular economy, where
products are designed for ease of recycling, reuse,
disassembly, and remanufacturing should replace the
traditional, linear 'take, make, and dispose' model that has
dominated the economy so far.
This, no doubt, is a major prerequisite to stay
within the Planetary Boundaries. It now takes the Earth
almost one and a half year to regenerate what we use in a
year (Ecological Footprint)."
A circular economy requires three main strategies: renewable
energy, energy efficiency, and material efficiency.2
In addition, since a circular economy requires regular
repair, maintenance, and remanufacturing, which is far more
labor intensive than mining or manufacturing using automated
facilities, it would also create an additional 100,000+ jobs,
cutting unemployment by more than one-third.3The Guardian detailed several of the suggested policy
options:4
Strengthening existing policies in renewable energy
Strengthening recycling and reuse targets to help reduce
and process waste and residues, and putting limits on waste
incineration
Using public procurement as an incentive for new
business models, moving from selling products to selling
performance
Establishing specific resource efficiency targets for
materials where scarcity looms or the environmental impact
of extraction is serious (such as rare earth metals)
Why 'Carbon Farming' is the Key to Save the Earth
It's estimated that one-third of the surplus carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere stems from poor land-management processes that
contribute to the loss of carbon, as carbon dioxide, from
farmlands.5
Carbon farming is a simple solution that involves returning
more topsoil to the land. The process is great for the
environment, wildlife, nutrition and will:
Regenerate the soil
Limit agricultural water usage with no till and crop
covers
Increase crop yields
Reduce the need for agricultural chemicals and
additives, if not eliminate such need entirely in time
Reduce carbon displacement
Reduce air and water pollution by lessening the need
for herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers
"Research conducted in Marin County and in the Sierra
foothills revealed that a single dusting of compost on
rangeland can boost the soil's carbon storage for at least
30 years.
'But there are significant hurdles to expanding the
practice, including the cost of purchasing and transporting
compost to farms. About 30 million tons of organic material
ends up in California's landfills,' said Torri Estrada,
director of policy at the Carbon Cycle Institute.
He envisions a network of regional facilities
producing compost or farmers and ranchers doing so
themselves on-site."
California Compost Experiment Turns into Weapon Against
Carbon Erosion
Compost happens with or without the help of humankind—it's
happening right now on forest floors, in farmers' fields, and in
your yard. But oftentimes it's a slow process and you can speed
it up using the right combination of water, oxygen, heat, and
organic material.
It's estimated that compost made from California's green
waste, which includes household food scraps, dairy manure, and
more, could absorb 75 percent of the state's greenhouse gas
emissions for one year if applied to just 25 percent of the
state's rangeland. As reported by SF Gate:7
"Unlike high-tech geo-engineering schemes to pull
excess carbon dioxide from the air and stick it in old coal
mines or under the ocean, applying compost is a simple way
of creating what scientists call a positive feedback loop.
Plants pull carbon dioxide from the air through
photosynthesis and transfer a portion of the carbon to the
soil through their roots. Soil microorganisms then turn the
carbon into a stable form commonly known as humus.
This not only sequesters the carbon but improves the
soil's fertility, boosting plant growth and capturing more
carbon while also improving the soil's ability to absorb and
retain water."
County-Wide Compost Program Diverts Nearly 1.5 Million Tons of
Waste from Landfills
The Sonoma County Waste Management Agency operates a regional
compost program in which they accept yard trimmings and
vegetative food discards that are placed in curbside containers
by local residents. They also accept yard trimmings from
landscapers and tree trimmers, as well as certain agricultural
byproducts from local farms, wineries, and food processors.
The organic material is then converted into premium quality
organic compost and mulches, along with recycled lumber,
firewood, and bio-fuel used to generate electricity. Since 1993,
1.6 million tons of yard and wood debris have been converted
into these beneficial products.
Sonoma Compost, which operates the Organic Recycling Program
on behalf of the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency,
estimates that nearly 1.5 million tons of yard and wood
trimmings have been diverted from landfills since 1993 as a
result of the program.8
Factory Farms and GMOs Are Major Polluters & Poison Producers
Today, food animals are typically reared in cages and tightly
cramped quarters, and their feed consists of grains, primarily
genetically modified (GM) corn and soy, instead of grasses.
These animals are literally imprisoned and often tortured by
unhealthy, unsanitary, and unconscionably cruel conditions.
To prevent the inevitable spread of disease from stress,
overcrowding and lack of vitamin D, animals are fed antibiotics
and other veterinary drugs. Those antibiotics pose a direct
threat to the environment when they run off into our lakes,
rivers, aquifers, and drinking water, and drive the rise in
antibiotic-resistant disease in humans and animals. However,
CAFOs and GM crops also play a significant role in
greenhouse gas emissions. As reported by
Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association:
"CAFOs contribute directly to global warming by
releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere - more than the entire global transportation
industry. The air at some factory farm test sites in the US
is dirtier than in America's most polluted cities, according
to the Environmental Integrity Project.
According to a 2006 report by the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), animal
agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of all
human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, including 37 percent
of methane emissions and 65 percent of nitrous oxide
emissions. The methane releases from billions of imprisoned
animals on factory farms are 70 times more damaging per ton
to the earth's atmosphere than CO2.
Indirectly, factory farms contribute to climate
disruption by their impact on deforestation and draining of
wetlands, and because of the nitrous oxide emissions from
huge amounts of pesticides used to grow the genetically
engineered corn and soy fed to animals raised in CAFOs.
Nitrous oxide pollution is even worse than methane –
200 times more damaging per ton than CO2. And just as animal
waste leaches antibiotics and hormones into ground and
water, pesticides and fertilizers also eventually find their
way into our waterways, further damaging the environment."
Even the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a
report titled "Climate Change and Agriculture in the United
States."9
According to the report, our current agricultural system, which
is dominated by GM corn and soy, is unsustainable in the long
term. Should temperatures rise as predicted, the US could expect
to see significant declines in yields by the middle of this
century.
Converting Corn Fields to Grasslands Can Also Help
In addition to carbon farming, increasing numbers of experts
are advocating for croplands to be converted back into
the
grasslands they once were. According to a report by South
Dakota State University researchers, grasslands in the Western
corn belt, which includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,
Iowa, and Nebraska, is being lost at a rate "comparable to
deforestation rates in Brazil, Malaysia, and Indonesia."10
Between 2006 and 2011, nearly 2 million acres of friendly
native grasses have been lost to corn and soy—two of the staples
in processed foods that are driving chronic disease rates in an
ever steepening upward incline. The same thing is happening in
South America, where native forests are leveled in order to
plant soy.
The researchers claim the land being converted into corn and
soy fields is actually much better suited for grazing than crop
agriculture, as it is "characterized by high erosion risk and
vulnerability to drought." As discussed in a Mother Jones
article, this conversion of grasslands to croplands is the exact
opposite of what might be in our best interest.11
"...we should push Midwestern farmers to switch a
chunk of their corn land into pasture for cows… The idea
came from a paper by University of Tennessee and Bard
College researchers, who calculated that such a move could
suck up massive amounts of carbon in soil—enough to reduce
annual greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 36
percent.12
In addition to the CO2 reductions, you'd also get a bunch of
high-quality, grass-fed beef... Turns out the Midwest are
doing just the opposite."
Biological Farming Is Key for Reducing Carbon Emissions
One of the most pernicious contributing factors to the rising
carbon dioxide concentrations in our atmosphere is not
necessarily the burning of fossil fuels, but rather it's our
modern agricultural practices. I'm really excited about the
alternatives, such as the application of
biochar (charcoal created by slowly heating biomass such as
wood and plant materials in a low-oxygen environment).
Once added to soil, biochar helps sequester carbon for
hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years, and radically improve
soil fertility by serving as a substrate for beneficial soil
microbes.
Adding biochar to just 10 percent of the world's croplands
would store 29 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This
roughly equals the world's annual greenhouse emissions. The
addition of biochar also improves soil fertility, allowing for
healthier crops, so it's a win-win situation. That said,
biological farming expert Dr. Arden Andersen claims that by
simply following appropriate,
sustainable farm-management practices you don't even need to
go through the process of creating and adding biochar.
"'If we follow those, by default we solve the carbon
sequestration issues. We solve the environmental issues.
Because what happens is that we increase the carbon in the
soil, and that's sequestration of air carbon,' he says.
'Acouple of different studies that I am familiar
with showed that just by sequestering carbon in 15-20
percent of the arable land in the world, we would more than
reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air that is
causing a problem. As I said, by default, we solve all the
environmental problems if we just do appropriate farming.'"
In addition to reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide, by
increasing carbon levels in our soils, we can:
Decrease weed proliferation. The USDA
Soil Tilth Laboratory showed that increasing the carbon
level in soil can decrease weeds by as much as 75 percent.
Increase the soil's water-holding capacity.
The Organic Horticulture Benefits Alliance (OHBA), an
organization in Houston, Texas that does organic turf
management, has shown that they can decrease water use for
lawns by 50 percent by biological means alone.
So, by default, following biological farming practices will
solve many environmental issues, including rising carbon dioxide
levels in the atmosphere. As it stands, industrial agriculture
is the primary culprit, and regenerative agriculture is the only
solution. While more efficient means of energy are improving,
there is no end in sight to our dependence on fossil fuels.
We are seeing signs of change, as major investors are also
recognizing the significant problems associated with further
reliance on fossil fuels,13
but we have decades before serious changes to our energy
infrastructure are made.
Copyright 1997- 2015 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.