How does soil carbon sequestration work

If you remember back when you were in grade school, you probably learned about the process of photosynthesis, where plants take carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere and release oxygen (O2). When we use the phrase soil carbon sequestration, we are talking about the process driven by photosynthesis, where CO2 is cycled from the air through plants and stored in the soil.

Industrial activities, such as construction, deforestation, transportation, and agriculture, emit CO2 into the atmosphere, either through the burning of fossil fuels or through soil disturbance that oxidizes soil carbon. As CO2 emissions increase over time, farmers are poised to find profitability in the developing carbon markets. Scientists estimate that agricultural soils can sequester over a billion additional tons of carbon each year—which would draw down about 31% of the 33 billion tons of CO2 emissions each year. Carbon farming sequestration is one of the main “negative emissions” technologies. Negative emissions that take CO2 out of the atmosphere are preferred to reduced emissions, which simply scale back the amount being emitted into the atmosphere. 

There are 5 steps to the carbon cycle between the atmosphere, plants, and soil: 

1. The sun provides the light energy that plants capture to perform photosynthesis.
2. Plants capture CO2 from the air, keeping carbon and releasing oxygen. Carbon helps build up the plants’ leaves, stems, and roots.
3. Plants secrete some of the carbon from their roots in nutritious offerings to soil organisms, creating a richer, healthier soil for farmers. 
4. Worms ingest plant residue that gets excreted as soil “casts”, which are bound together to protect plants from decomposition.
5. Carbon moves deeper in the soil through a cycle of microbial consumption and transformation. This increases carbon stocks.

The cycle continues, building up carbon into more permanent forms.

So, what is the best part about this? With Indigo, you can actually get paid for the carbon you are capturing back into your soil. By participating in the Carbon by Indigo program and adopting carbon farming practices, you can not only increase your soil health but also reduce your costs and get paid for carbon credits. Carbon by Indigo is the only registry-certified agricultural carbon credit program on the market operating at scale, so the carbon credits farmers generate via our program are high quality and the most valuable on the market.

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