I get that we would trap carbon but could it fail and potentially cause a mass release?
In: Earth Science
The goal of carbon capture is find a way to store is such that that’s really not a concern.
For example, one method is to have farmers take their leftover crops (think stalks leftover after picking), push it into a pile, throw a cover on it, and light it on fire. This will make charcoal. Then they can till it into the soil.
This actually improves the soil quality, and helps return the nutrients to the soil. But charcoal doesn’t decompose, and it largely acts as a filler in soil. And buried in soil it’s not going to burn either. So there isn’t really a serious risk that this charcoal will return to the atmosphere anytime soon (it really requires digging all the dirt up and burning it, it won’t burn just in the ground).
Like the above method, a major part of carbon capture is doing something with it after it’s captured, you either sequester it by converting it into something that can be stored long term, or you use it (such as to make biofuel), biofuel will release it back into the atmosphere, but since it’s from carbon capture, it’s carbon neutral.
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