Welsh study discovers how to offset carbon emissions

An environmental analysis study in Wales has shown a way to reduce the effects of carbon emissions.

Researchers at Swansea University have said that up to 12 per cent of man-made greenhouse gases can be offset with a product called biochar.

Working in collaboration with a team from the US Department of Energy, Cornell University and the University of South Wales, the scientists published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

In it, they discuss the effects of biochar - a material similar to charcoal, which is produced from waste biomass.

They claim that when added to soils, it can store away carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere and contribute to greenhouse gas levels.

Lead author Dominic Woolf from Swansea University's School of Environment and Society said that as well as being able to reduce the amount of carbon released, "the energy released during pyrolysis can be used for anything from providing heat for houses to electricity production".

The Guardian reported yesterday (August 12th) that a government report stated that biochar being used in this manner is still a theory that it full of "scientific uncertainties".

Posted by Lauren Steadman