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Today we are looking at carbon farming with bamboo. Carbon farming is a hot topic
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tons of tons of good information all about bamboo. Bamboo uses bamboo cultivation
bamboo industry, great stuff, check it out. So bamboo bamboo uh carbon farming
carbon farming with with bamboo and carbon farming in general are super interesting topics these days
And that is primarily because of the climate situation that we are in which is directly related to the
abnormally high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. So carbon farming refers to the cultivation
of plants and trees and grasses like bamboo which absorb carbon from the atmosphere and store that carbon in the biomass
in the plant, tissue, in the leaves, the stems, the roots of the plant photosynthesis
As I'm sure you know is the process by which all these plants um pretty much all plants on earth um
take sunlight and turn it into food uh that is sugar in the plant
As they do this, they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and release oxygen back into the atmosphere
which is a super crucial thing because animals including humans do the opposite
We inhale oxygen, we exhale CO2. So it's a perfect symbiotic relationship between animals and plants to maintain this
stable equilibrium of atmospheric gasses. It's pretty remarkable if you think about how stable these uh gasses
have been in the atmosphere, the levels of CO2 oxygen, um hydrogen
et cetera in the atmosphere. But uh lately, uh you can check out my previous video about about carbon
sequestration. Lately CO2 levels have been getting a little bit out of control
So uh lots of people are trying to plant more trees and other crops that will absorb CO2 and bamboo
because of its super, super great fast rate of growth, high metabolism
it absorbs CO2 faster than anything. Most most statistics say that see that bamboo absorbs about 35% more
CO2 than an equal area of trees. Um That's a statistic which could be researched and
confirmed um with more data, but that's pretty much what people are using right now
So apart from just the fact that people want to have a cleaner atmosphere
there is some financial incentive behind carbon farming uh behind absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and that would be the carbon credit
system. So carbon credit generation um involve starting a carbon capture project uh like a forest or bamboo grove
bamboo plantation. Um Other types of grasses can be really powerful CO2 absorbers too
Uh creating what we call a carbon sink. There is a rigorous assessment process um to get the carbon credits
the carbon credits can then be sold on the international market. Uh through the voluntary carbon trading marketplace where
companies who are trying to achieve carbon neutrality, net zero. Um climate goals like these
they need to reduce their footprint. And in many cases that means purchasing offsets to offset what they are already doing
Uh Hopefully they are also working on what we call insets, which is reducing the carbon footprint within their own supply chains
But in many cases, there's only so much insetting they can do
And so in order to achieve that uh that neutral carbon footprint and they are having to purchase carbon
offsets carbon removal credits. And so then these credits are cracked um very carefully to ensure that they are authentic
And that's a whole, that's a whole process, but it can be pretty lucrative
There's all kinds of different carbon credits out there. It's not just a simple
you can collect carbon, you get one credit, it's worth $25. Boom
It's a bit more complicated than that. I've got other videos about carbon credits, lots of articles about that on their website also
So you can check those out if you want to get into the nitty gritty. And 11 point since I mentioned
the nitty gritty, there is um a feature called Additionality. And that means you
if you are earning carbon credits as a carbon farmer, you have to demonstrate that your carbon farming project represents something additional
something that would not have existed without the carbon credit system. What they are trying to avoid is somebody going out um
into their backyard. Say you have, if your backyard is uh a few 100 acres
Uh So you've got a big ranch and there happens to be um the giant forest
there could be fur trees, it could be bamboo, it could be something else. And you want to say
hey, look, I've got this huge forest. It's absorbing tons of Co2 every year
And I want to cash in some carbon credits. They do not want people doing that because that is um they don't want to be
paying people for doing something that they're doing. Anyway, the carbon credits are intended to incentivize the new projects um to
create additional carbon capture. So they need to demonstrate additionality. You need to be able to show that
Look, there's some land that's degraded, it's abandoned. Nothing's really happening with it
I'm gonna plant uh 100 acres of bamboo. It's gonna absorb this much CO2 as opposed to
the CO2 that would have been absorbed if I hadn't done this. And it all gets a little bit messy because you're trying to compare
what you would do compared to what would have otherwise happened. And it's
even if you're comparing your projected bamboo farm, you compare that to the degraded land and what that's gonna look like in 10 years
you can't really know for sure what that degraded land is gonna do in 10 years
Maybe somebody is gonna build a shopping center. Maybe somebody's gonna plant a uh hemp farm
which I was gonna actually end up absorbing lots of CO2. Uh So there's a bit of guesswork and speculation involved in that
And that again is uh verging into the territory of the nitty gritty
Um But let's uh pass over the nitty gritty for the moment and get into some specific bamboo carbon farming projects
Um I actually speak to people almost every week who are engaging in or planning in some massive carbon
farming project because they figure if you can get so many dollars per carbon credit and you get so many carbon credits for one acre
of bamboo, then how do we make the most money? You take that one acre of bamboo and you multiply it times 100 or times
1000 or times 20,000 and all of a sudden those dollar signs just start rolling up and people get pretty excited about it
So that's uh an interesting thing that's happening right now. Uh I'm a big fan of new and additional bamboo cultivation
forestry farming, all that stuff. But um I'm more a fan of it when it's done very thoughtfully
responsibly, um mindful of biodiversity, uh local community needs and interests and
sensibilities. So it's uh again, it gets a bit complicated. It's not just a matter of taking one acre of bamboo
that absorbs so much carbon and multiplying at times the biggest number you can come up with
But uh so, but the big question, the big question, this is the big question
How much CO2 are you collecting from an acre of bamboo? Because if you're farming
but if you're a carbon farmer, this is, this is at the crux of the whole uh proposition
the entire enterprise hangs upon this number and the number varies pretty wildly
This is a website from a company in Florida. Uh If you look here
you might want to pause and zoom in if you want to read that. Um They're saying that um one acre of bamboo
can absorb 400 tons of CO2 per year, 400 tons per acre
That's great. Um Carbon credits are represent one ton of CO2. So that means 400 carbon credits per acre
If you're selling carbon credits for $25 which could be a reasonable
a reasonable uh amount for a forestry related to carbon credit. But I'm just kind of pulling that number out of somewhere
But let's say um the 25 is also easier to multiply times 400 400 times 25 is
gonna be what? For, uh, $40,000 per, per, uh, per acre, something like that
Um, sorry, no, 400 times 25 it's gonna be about 10,000 per acre
Um, that's a lot, um, that's a lot of money. Indeed
$10,000 an acre is a lot of money. But then, uh, you look at some other websites where they're also engaging in carbon farming with
bamboo and you get a number like uh 48 tons breaker, which is gonna be a lot less
that's closer to, closer to um closer to $1000 per acre, which
is not um sorry. So there's no, this is actually 40 eight tons per
hectare, 48 tons per hectare, which is more like uh about 20 something like 20 tons
per acre, which is more like uh what's that gonna be $500 per
acre in carving credits? Pretty big difference if you're putting together a business plan
whether you're making 10,000 an acre or a 500 an acre. So carbon farming with bamboo
it's a bit, it's a bit risky. Uh It's a lot of speculation
Another thing is that the vast majority of people I talked to who are eagerly excitedly talking about bamboo for carbon credit generation
Um It's all very much in the theoretical in the aspirational stage of carbon farming and carbon credit generation and they're
really excited about what could be done and what might be done and the great possibilities of carbon credit revenue
very, very few are actually generating carbon credits, taking them to market
cashing them in and seeing monetary returns on this. Um, to have more than an idea
But actually putting money in the bank, one of the only, this is actually the only company that I know of doesn't mean it's the
only one, but it's the only one I know of that's actually doing that. Um At least I'm pretty sure they're doing it
Um Actually making money on carbon credits and that's a company here called uh Eco Planet Bamboo
They've got some massive bamboo farming projects. Um And of various parts of the world throughout the tropics in Africa
Asia, Latin America. And they are making lots of uh paper products and pulp with their bamboo
It's pretty great. So yeah, there's some, there's some ifs and maybes with carbon farming
Uh Another point to add before we close out here, uh the decomposition of bamboo if you're not farming
if you're not harvesting your bamboo. So your, your farming carbon that bamboo is absorbing in carbon
But if you just keep letting the bamboo grow and grow and grow, eventually, it's gonna start looking like this
the poles will age and fall over. New poles will come up, but those old poles will fall over and they will start to decompose
and as they decompose, they are co2 back into the atmosphere. And so your carbon sink um is like a big balloon with a hole
in it and the CO2 is just going leaking. Um So you got some serious CO2 leakage there
I hope that analogy was, was instructive for you. So it is very important if you're in carbon farming
if you want to maximize your carbon sink and get the most carbon uh stored and sequestered from your bamboo
you need to be harvesting it on a regular basis. Cutting down the older poles before they start to crack and age and decompose and
release CO2, cut them down before that happens. Make room for fresh new growth
keep the bamboo growing vigorously, prevented from decomposing. Uh As these poles are harvested
this there is carbon, carbon is locked into the tissue and biomass of these poles
They can be made into the building products or the bamboo will be stored in the in the woody uh structure of the building
Um So the building itself is like a carbon sink. You could turn it into biochar as you know
I'm a big fan of biochar. Uh turn it into biochar, which is an amazing soil additive
Um put that into the soil and then the carbon is stored there for 100 to 1000 years
which is a great thing for carbon removal. If you're not earning carbon credits on the band of forestry
you can be earning carbon credits on the biochar, which is a far more straightforward process
Um you can contact me about that. That's one of my areas of expertise
Um So yeah, it's important. Uh The point here is that carbon farming with bamboo is more complicated than people make it out to be
There are some things to consider additionality. Uh The need to be harvesting your bamboo
Um The process of assessment and verification of the bamboo forestry project can be extremely cumbersome
but it's not impossible. And in the end, um the more bamboo we plant
the more CO2 we're absorbing. So let's figure out how to do that more productively and effectively
And if you want to talk about it, hit me up. Uh Links are down below in the show notes
visit my website, contact me through there. Uh Leave comments down below in the comment section
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and we'll talk to you next time. Thanks