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Can We Do Carbon Dioxide Neutral?

December 22 2022

the role of carbon offsets in climate change mitigation

Carbon Dioxide Neutral

The sudden changes in the environment and the adoption of various methods have led to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It is resulting in global warming at a fast scale. If individuals do not take any step forward to be carbon neutral, then things can get worse. It is important for every individual to work on their carbon footprint and start looking for ways that neutralize carbon or carbon dioxide. 

It is imperative to start working towards climate change and curb emissions which can be beneficial for human beings. However, there are many ways to neutralize carbon, and removal of it can easily take various forms. Thus, it is better to grab the right information and work toward it. 

Be Carbon neutral

How to be carbon neutral? 

The real carbon-neutral meaning is to work on your carbon footprint. There are a lot of people and organizations which know the real meaning of it. This is the way of measuring greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane, etc. These gases trap the heat in the atmosphere, which can further lead to serious global warming issues. It is also determined by the overall number of gases that are released in the climate or atmosphere, directly or indirectly, by the actions of humans. 

Simple options to neutralize carbon dioxide in the atmosphere 

There are a lot of options that can be adopted to neutralize carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This can be beneficial in developing and combating serious climate change. 

Here are the options mentioned below: 

  • Forest – The process used by forest plants and trees, which is called photosynthesis, can be beneficial in neutralizing carbon. It is also beneficial in removing CO2 from the atmosphere. This can be beneficial in managing climate change or global warming at a great level. The CO2 in the atmosphere is stored by the forest woods and soil. Thus, it is important to have forest expansion and work on farm productivity to fill in the deforestation gap. This can help in restoring the balance of the atmosphere. 
  • Farms – Another option that can be very effective in achieving carbon neutrality is farming. It is the soil that naturally stores the carbon. However, agricultural soil is being deficit due to excessive use of it. Thus, building soil carbon can be beneficial for farmers as well as the atmosphere. It is important to work on the ways where farm soil can be neutral carbon and help maintain the overall atmosphere. 
  • Bio-energy with Carbon capture, as well as storage – Another way that can be adopted, is BECCS which helps in combating climate change and neutralizing carbon. This is slightly more complicated than managing the soil or working on the increase in the forest. This process involves the use of biomass which captures emissions before releasing them again. This process stores the captured carbon emissions rather than other options like underground or concrete ways. 
  • Direct air capture – Another way to achieve carbon neutrality is direct air capture. This is a process that chemically scrubs CO2 directly from the air and then stores it underground or in long-lived products. This is the latest technology which is somehow the same as carbon capture as well as storage technology which captures the emissions. However, this process removes carbon dioxide in excess and directly from the atmosphere rather than looking for ways to capture it from the main source. This process can be beneficial as it is straightforward and benefits the climate in many ways. 
  • Carbon mineralization – This is another carbon neutralizer way. There are some minerals that are known to react with carbon dioxide by turning carbon from a gas into a solid. This is a process that is also known as enhanced weathering and happens slowly in comparison to other methods. This method can also be used to store carbon dioxide in solid rocks that react to create solid carbonate. 

Conclusion 

It is not easy to neutralize carbon from the atmosphere. This is the reason that the methods or ways can be slightly more complicated than expected. However, they are effective and can be beneficial in achieving the environmental goal, which is to remove or neutralize carbon.