Keylining and Soil Carbon: Can an Obscure Practice Enhance Sequestration? By Richard Scharf  Environmental Services, Inc. (ESI) recently completed a baseline soil carbon study for a farm manager curious about a relatively unknown management practice that was developed in Australia. Peter Traverse's interests were to investigate the use of a tillage practice called keylining, and evaluate its effect on increasing soil organic carbon stocks on the land he manages in the foothills of the Blue Ridge. While the practice has production benefits through water management, there is reason to believe that this technique will also result in greater soil carbon sequestration. Years ago, when Peter farmed with his father in Vermont, one of their key concerns was keeping more of the water that fell as precipitation on the rolling hills of their land, rather than losing it to runoff. Peter continued his research through the years, and eventually ran into the practice of keylining. Permanence? Leakage? Additionality? What Do They Mean?By Scott Sager Due to recent activity in the ecosystem services markets, there is renewed focus on the various ways in which carbon credits are generated. Credits are equivalent to one metric tonne of carbon-dioxide (or its equivalent in global warming potential) and are the units of measure through which emissions, and emissions reductions, are capped-and-traded. Credits come in two "flavors": 1) allowances, which are units of allowed emissions; and 2) offsets, which are units of voluntary emission reduction. Allowances can be traded when an emitter does not use their entire allowance. Offsets are created when a voluntary action reduces emissions from an unregulated sector of the economy, such as land management. Offsets from forestry are a huge component of the proposed legislation and face several unique challenges - permanence, leakage, and additionality. The issues of permanence, leakage and additionality are complex concepts that can be difficult to assess in practice. In future editions of the newsletter we will address how these concepts affect project development and verification, and how they impact the carbon offsets market.     |
