Mission

Current worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide are estimated to be approaching 30 billion tons per year. The plant biomass is the largest system for carbon dioxide capture from the atmosphere within the natural carbon cycle For example; tree biomass on one hectare of land captures 1-10 tons of carbon per year and qualifies for 70-100 years of growth cycle for carbon sequestration. The mature biomass produces carbon dioxide from respiration and decomposition of dead biomass. The mature and dead biomass can be buried in engineered landfills for future potential production of cellulosic biofuels or other applications. Therefore, maintenance of existing biomass and cultivation of additional biomass are being sought as practical and economical approaches for decreasing the build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Biomass cultivation requires land, water, and nutrients all of which are scarce, especially on large scale. Novel approaches are required to treat impaired waters to enable utilization of impaired lands by irrigation. These new approaches must also provide cost effective nutrients for cultivating and sustaining plant biomass especially in chronically arid areas. Humic acid products are derived from coal, which is the most abundant fossil biomass available on all continents. Humic materials are the active form of soil organic matter. The application of humic acid products have already been proven as a practical and cost effective approaches for utilizing impaired lands and even convert barren lands into useable lands. Humic materials have been used along with saline and recycled wastewaters for sustaining plant biomass.

Many research institutions and commercial companies all over the world are successfully implementing applications of humic substances for food production and environmental remediation. However, widespread use of humic substances, especially for biomass cultivation for carbon sequestration, has not yet taken place because of lack of awareness and institutional support.

This consortium is comprised of humic substances research scientists from several countries. These scientists have decided to dedicate themselves to foster applications of these highly useful materials for creating practical and economical approaches for carbon sequestration all over the world. The consortium members are dedicated to create solutions for decreasing the build up of at least one billion tons of CO2 requiring cultivation of biomass on approximately 2.5 million acres of land. ( To remove 1 billion tons of CO2 over 70 years @ 6 tons of CO2 per acre / per year)

The target of the consortium members will be to accomplish this in less than 5 years, and develop an approach for competing for the $25 million dollar prize Virgin Earth Challenge, which was recently announced by Mr. Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, to remove 1 billion tons of CO2
from the atmosphere.