Carbon left in soil could one day be used as part of an emissions trading program under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Agricultural soils could absorb more than 10 percent of man-made carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
But first, researchers will need to develop ways that carbon stored in the soil can be measured accurately through time.
The Kyoto treaty, which took effect in February, has already spurred investments in forestry. In Europe, brokers help industrial firms purchase the right to emit specific amounts of carbon dioxide above their government-mandated limits, in exchange for making investments in projects that plant or protect trees. Like all green plants, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their cells.
In mid-April, a company seeking to exceed its allotment of carbon dioxide emissions paid about $20 in forestry investment per ton of emissions, according to Point Carbon, a European emissions broker in London. Analysts at the firm expect $3.2 billion in worldwide carbon dioxide emissions trading this year, and predict more than $40 billion per year by 2010.
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