CO2 REMOVALS
Carbon-recycling is based on two widely known fundamental processes:
Photosynthesis, producing renewable biomass:
Slow pyrolysis (carbonization), to convert biomass into “biocarbon” (“biochar”, “charcoal”, or other terms may be used, depending on the context) and water:
In combining both processes, the net effect is the CO2 removal from the atmosphere:
The fundamental assumption, easily demonstrated, is that the biocarbon is no longer a biodegradable material (reversable to CO2 or CH4 by biochemical processes), but a mineral-like material, able to be controlled stored as an “artificially fossilized” carbon and energy stock, to be stored for the future generations.
The technology thus consists of:
- Collection of urban and rural renewable biomass from UNFCCC registered sources, worldwide;
- Processing them in UNFCCC individually registered pyrolysis plants;
- Registering each single quantity (tons) of produced biocarbon as a valuable and “bankable” amount of recycled carbon (“carbon-coins”), and their effect in avoiding emissions that would result if the process was not in place (baseline emissions);
- Storage of the recycled carbon in UNFCCC registered sites (“reverse mining” or “carbon banking” storage site). The Certified Carbon Dioxide Removals (C-CDR for the negative emissions or reversals) and the Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs for avoided emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O in the baseline scenario) are thus carbon credits registered at the Paris Agreement Paragraphs 6.2 and 6.4 mechanisms, tradable at the national/international carbon markets.
When the renewable biomass is collected in mixed conditions with non-biogenic materials (e.g., municipal wastes containing plastics), the fractions of biogenic and non-biogenic carbon in the feedstock are measured before the pyrolysis, the net effects of C-CDRs and CERs calculated accordingly. The final product of the pyrolysis will be designated as “Pyrocarbon” (distinct from “Biocarbon”) and stored in dedicated sites, indicating these reverse mines contain not pure recycled biocarbon, but mixed recycled biobased and non-biobased carbon stocks.
