Article
Have we gone mad?
Ocean rubbish dump could lock away carbon
30 January 2009 by Jim Giles
Dumping crop waste in the deep ocean could be one of the best ways to rein in global warming, say researchers who have weighed the pros and cons of a range of carbon-capture schemes. Up to 30% of the leaves and stalks that remain in fields after harvesting can be removed without causing erosion or damaging soil fertility, estimate Stuart Strand of the University of Washington and Gregory Benford of the University of California, Irvine. This residue normally decays and releases carbon dioxide, but it could be collected, packed into bales and dropped into the deep ocean. Worldwide crop residues contain around 600 million tonnes of carbon. If all of it was sunk in this way, the rate of annual rate of build up of carbon in the atmosphere could be cut by 14%, say the researchers.
From: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16514-ocean-rubbish-dump-could-lock-away-carbon.html