Soil Carbon Enhancement

Another area of discussion is how far soil carbon uptake can be improved by modifying agricultural techniques. Experts refer to this method as soil carbon enhancement. The technologies grouped under it mostly count as natural climate solutions. Numerous individual research projects have been carried out on this topic worldwide in recent years. Among other things, it has been shown that soil can be made to store significantly more carbon by working in more harvest residues into the soil or by sowing cover crops. Other studies have investigated whether a similar effect can be achieved by cultivating deeper rooting crops or perennial cereals. Ploughing also plays a part. If deep ploughing is dispensed with and sowing is adjusted accordingly, biological decomposition processes in the soil are slowed down and carbon accumulates. According to various scientific estimates, global soils could store between 0.7 and eleven billion tonnes of CO2 annually as a result of adapted agricultural techniques. There is a large range of uncertainty involved, however, as it is unclear how permanent the sequestration will be and what part is played by one-off effects such as the switch from deep to shallower ploughing.