Some Thoughts on The ‘Standard’ Plan
Most companies and countries are setting out their goals to reduce their yearly carbon footprints to align with targets to stop the planet from warming more than 1 ½ degrees Celsius, with their target date in the distant 2050 and 2065.
Machines that suck CO2 directly from the air could cut the cost of meeting global climate goals, but they would need as much as a quarter of global energy supplies in 2100.
The world’s largest carbon capture machinery, the Orca plant located in Iceland, can suck 4,000 tonnes of CO2 out of the air every year and inject it deep into the ground to be mineralized.
This is the same carbon capture as what only some 6000 Mangrove trees can draw down and store within 25 years without any maintenance or machinery while creating an abundant biosphere.
Our planet’s climate will continue to struggle if we focus mainly on reduction and energy-intensive carbon capture from now until 2050.
We need to become more ambitious in terms of natural climate solutions which also will be important for oxygen production which is a by-product of photosynthesis.
Our 10X Climate Positive Plan
Starboard and SOMWR are connected to many collaboration and event partners. Importantly, events and travel emit huge amounts of CO2 within a small time frame. To reduce the impact created during these events, our Environmental team calculates the CO2 emissions for partnered events. Including, all travel by athletes, staff, volunteers and energy/ fuel use at events. Our offsetting technique uses natural climate solutions – mangroves. In the 10X movement, we plant to absorb 10 times the emitted amount. In 2022, this is 30 mangroves per every 1 tonne identified. This method results in 10 tonnes being absorbed for every 1 tonne emitted over 25 years.
Partnership
For our mangrove planting, we partner with Worldview International Foundation. Here, the specialized team plant the mangroves and secures the highest possible survival rate for the trees. The mangroves and their surrounding soil trap CO2 and store it in carbon pools below the ground. Mangroves are also known as Blue Carbon storers. Blue carbon harnesses the name due to its location within the coastal and marine ecosystem.
Moving Forwards With Science
Many scientists identify Blue Carbon as the most effective carbon dioxide storage sink. Mangrove forests are very productive at storing CO2. With their dense population, they are also great at trapping sediment, meaning the storage of CO2 is secure. The muddy, oxygen-poor soil traps carbon dioxides. In these soils, carbon cannot oxidise unlike in terrestrial forests.
To keep the data valid, scientists test the carbon level in the soils in the climate park each year. Verifying the increasing levels of Carbon Dioxide in the soil matter.
