1 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Ask Anything Wednesday - Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science
I have a small garden, but even still, cutting the grass and hedges produces about a ton of garden waste every year. A fair amount of that weigh is captured carbon, isn't it?
How can I dispose of that waste so that the carbon doesn't just go straight back into the atmosphere?
Comment by Indemnity4 at 11/12/2023 at 01:41 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Oh it's all going back to the atmosphere, it's only the time frame that changes.
Your household green waste is mostly water, by weight. Moving on.
Where does your green waste currently go? Where I live it is collected and taken to a central waste transfer station where it is shredded, composted, sieved and sterilized (in no particular order).
Short term storage: you can compost it. The cellulose and starches will break down into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually becomine a liquid called humic matter[1]. It becomes food for the next generation of plants. So that carbon mostly stays in your garden. About 50% of the carbon will remain in the soil instead of release to atmosphere.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humic_substance
Long term storage: pyrolysis. Burn it at low temperature in an oxygen-free environment. It will turn into biochar, which can also be used as fertilizer or soil improver. This isn't really all that practical at home.