Two farmers become the unlikely heroes on a quest to address the climate crisis. In 2019, Guy Webb and Mick Wettenhall’s journey led to the creation of Soil Carbon Co. Their journey is captured in the award winning documentary film Grassroots
Guy Webb has been the driving force behind Australia-based SoilCQuest since its launch. His grit and determination drives the research institute forward. Guy has a strong background in agronomy, and a deep understanding of the scientific principles of soil health, microbiology and sustainable land management. Co-founder Mick Wettenhall is an experienced grains and cotton farmer and grazier on the Macquarie River near Trangie. He is focused on how the work of the research institute can be integrated into the wider agricultural system. He believes that agriculture has a major role to play not only in food security but also in sustainable environmental management and climate change mitigation.
Together they set up Soil Carbon Co with a dedicated mission to remove carbon from the atmosphere and improve the world’s soils.
One solution
Guy and Mick found that the world faced two problems:
- Too much CO2 in our atmosphere, 416 ppm in 2020
- Too little carbon in our soils, globally a fall of 60%
So connecting the Sky to the Soil, Soil Carbon Co developed a technology to capture carbon from the atmosphere on a gigatonne scale and return it to the soil. This improves soil health and at the same time allows farmers to trade in a second crop: Carbon offsets.
Carbon trading markets are growing, offering opportunities for farmers to generate significant extra income. In their current form, the markets are not suitable for most farming businesses. We are working to develop ways of trading carbon specifically built for farmers, giving them a fair price and a transparent market for their second crop: Carbon.
The Technology: Microbial Carbon Sequestration
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the foundation of fertility. Carbon influences the infiltration and storage of water, drives nutrient cycles and eases dependence on fertilisers. We create easy-to-deploy formulations of microbial fungi and bacteria that support plant growth and rapidly build stable forms of soil organic carbon.
Microbial carbon sequestration is one of the most important scientific endeavours of the 21st century. It promises an elegant solution for two of our greatest challenges: climate change induced by the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, and the decrease of fertility and resilience in the world’s agricultural soils.
Compared with other carbon sequestration mechanisms, microbial processes are by far the most efficient way of capturing carbon. There is no requirement for additional equipment, land or energy for the sequestration process.
Farming for soil health
Today’s methods of agricultural soil management can dramatically influence SOC but with unpredictable outcomes. This is mainly due to varied rates of decomposition and respiration of a substantial portion of root exudate and soil material releasing it back to the atmosphere as CO2.
Supporting the crops
Endophytes are microbes that live symbiotically within plant tissue for at least part of their life cycle. Groups of these endophytic microbes, such as mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen‐fixing bacteria, have long been known to benefit plant growth. Other endophytes living in plant tissues have been shown to increase fertility, promote plant growth and give protection against stresses such as disease, drought and temperature extremes.
Long-term stable carbon storage
Some microbes, for example melanised endophytic fungi, feed on the plant root exudate which contains labile carbon compounds and produce melanin. This is a more stable polyaromatic carbon compound that is resistant to being broken down by reaction with water in the soil. In addition, it has been shown that this carbon is deposited in tiny compressed balls of soil called soil micro-aggregate. These micro-aggregates provide an anaerobic home where carbon can be safely stored long term.
The focus
The application of associations of microbial organisms, including melanised endophytic fungi, is an efficient method of increasing natural carbon deposits in soil. In a fungal-bacterial consortia melanising fungi can be grouped together with other microbes to create plant benefits. This method also creates a long-term increase in stable soil organic carbon drawn down from atmospheric CO2.
Also Read:Living Soil: Understanding soil microbiology and biochemistry
