Bamboo – Solutions for Achieving Drawdown, Part 1.

johnniec (55)in #science • 7 years ago (edited)

This incredible member of the grass-family is grown for food, feed, fiber, fuel, flooring, construction, soil stabilization and restoration, and carbon sequestration.

Bamboo grows quickly, can grow on and replenish degraded soils, and is used for tons of things including food, feed, fiber, fuel, flooring, and… construction (is there a synonym for this that starts with “F”?). It can grow in a wide range of climates and many useful species are “clumping”, which don’t spread as aggressively as “running” species, some of which are currently popular (and unpopular) in the United States.

Bamboo is great at holding soil in place and it can quickly build soil and increase carbon stored in the ground and in long-lasting, harvested culms (stalks/trunks). As a common feedstock for paper (primarily in India and China right now), bamboo helps prevent the cutting/clearing of slower growing trees. When cut, bamboo resprouts quickly and culms are typically full-grown in 1-4 years. Young shoots are edible, while mature culms can be used in place of wood and even concrete and steel in construction.

In terms of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, bamboo provides benefits in many ways. When used to replace steel, concrete, plastic, aluminum or other building materials; bamboo has a lower carbon footprint during production and stores its carbon for the duration of the building at least. When used to restore land or boost soil quality on agricultural lands, bamboo builds up loads of carbon in the soil and its plant material. As a grass rather than a tree, bamboo contains relatively high concentrations of phytoliths which weather and degrade very slowly, increasing the amount of time carbon inside them is sequestered. When used for charcoal, it once again helps prevent the use of slower growing trees or nonrenewable coal for the same purpose.

Check the website for more information on bamboo and other great solutions!

I made a couple earlier posts on Steemit about my work at Project Drawdown where we performed in-depth research and modeled the economic and atmospheric impacts of over 100 climate solutions in the areas of agriculture, energy technologies, and even education and human rights. When applied, most of these solutions present win-win-win scenarios in terms of economics, jobs, climate, and quality of life.

I’ve decided to share some those solutions here and if you get too impatient waiting for the next installment, feel free to visit Drawdown.org for access to solution summaries, detailed technical reports, and information on purchasing the book (which is easy to read and has great photos).

I’m starting with this solution because I helped research it and I don’t think people think about agriculture and plants (other than trees) as solutions very frequently. Remember, we researched over 100 solutions and cover 100 in the book! What solutions can you think of in addition to wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars?