Scientists: Log found in Canada may contain secrets of climate change fight

A 3,775-year-old log found in Canada may hold the secrets to fighting climate change. Scientists emphasize that the wood has hardly lost any carbon content after it was buried.

The team of scientists wanted to conduct an experiment to show that the wood does not decompose, confirming that burying biomass can be a cheap way to store climate-heating carbon. But during the excavation, they found an old log that confirmed their beliefs, Science News writes.

In 2013, University of Maryland climatologist Ning Zeng and his colleagues dug a trench in the Canadian province of Quebec, which they planned to fill with 35 metric tons of wood, cover it with clay soil, and leave it for nine years.

The team hoped to show that wood does not decompose and stores carbon. But while digging the pit, they came across a perfectly preserved 3,775-year-old log that fully confirmed the researchers' beliefs.

"I remember standing there and looking at it. Do we really need to continue our experiment? The evidence is already here, and it's better than we could have done," said Zeng.

This log was once part of an eastern red cedar tree that pulled carbon dioxide from the air and turned it into wood about 3,775 years ago. Experts estimate that the log, which had been buried for thousands of years under only two meters of clay soil, retained at least 95 percent of the carbon.

"Scientists and entrepreneurs have long considered wood burial as a climate solution. This new work shows that it is possible. Reliable and low-cost climate solutions like these hold great promise for combating climate change," said Daniel Sanchez, an environmental scientist at the University of California, Berkeley.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, limiting greenhouse gas emissions is not enough to achieve global climate goals. In addition, about 10 gigatons of atmospheric carbon need to be captured and stored annually until 2060.

Researchers say that plants store about 220 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year for their growth, but most of it is released back into the atmosphere through decomposition. Preventing just a fraction of this decomposition by burying the wood can help achieve this goal, they emphasize.

An ancient log cabin gives researchers a clue as to the conditions under which carbon should be broken down. Zeng suggests that the largely waterproof clay soil that covers this Canadian region helped prevent oxygen from reaching the log even at relatively shallow depths.

"This type of soil is relatively widespread. You just need to dig a hole a few meters deep, bury the wood, and it will be preserved," explained Ning Zeng.

The researchers estimate that burying wood can cost as little as US$30-100 per ton of CO2. These calculations make wood storage more practical than developing direct air capture technology, which costs US$100 to US$300 per ton of CO2.

According to researchers, if the conditions under which the Canadian log was stored can be reproduced, buried biomass from discarded wood and sustainable harvesting could absorb up to 10 gigatons of carbon annually.

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