Quantifying the Carbon Potential of Carbon Capture Cubes in Kenya
Open Access
- Author:
- Chu, Katherine
- Area of Honors:
- Environmental Resource Management
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- David Hughes, Thesis Supervisor
Robert David Shannon, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- carbon sequestration
agroforestry
biochar
Kenya
soil organic carbon
climate change - Abstract:
- As climate change intensifies, African nations, despite contributing minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions, bear the brunt of its devastating consequences. To improve the resilience of these countries against climate change while reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, we can adopt carbon capture cubes. Carbon capture cubes merges agroforestry and biochar to enhance crop yields in arid regions while sequestering carbon for long-term storage. Artificial intelligence (AI) is implemented for better monitoring of the cubes’ conditions, but we lack the methodology to use AI to assess the carbon sinking potential of these integrated practices. Tracking the amount of carbon sequestered from carbon capture cubes would allow us to better support farmers in vulnerable regions to climate change and enable farmers to benefit from carbon offset programs. This research focuses on developing a method to calculate the carbon potential of farms in Kenya employing carbon capture cubes. To establish the baseline carbon stock of farms, spatial data from the Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture Ltd. (iSDA) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s Water Productivity through Open access of remotely sensed derived data (WaPOR), To determine the carbon increase of agroforestry, relevant literature was referenced to calculate the carbon content of three trees grown in Kenya: Grevillea robusta, Azadirachta indica, and Persea americana. As for biochar, carbon inputs from biochar were calculated based on feedstock readily available in Kenya by using established conversion factors. The outcome is a basic web app calculator for assessing the carbon potential of a carbon capture cube.