Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

A handful of carbon

Locking carbon up in soil makes more sense than storing it in plants and trees that eventually decompose, argues Johannes Lehmann. Can this idea work on a large scale?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. IPCC Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf (2007).

  2. Lackner, K. S. Science 300, 1677–1678 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lehmann, J. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (in the press).

  4. Baldock, J. A. & Smernik, R. J. Org. Geochem. 33, 1093–1109 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lehmann, J., Gaunt, J. & Rondon, M. Mitigation Adapt. Strateg. Glob. Change 11, 403–427 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Liang, B. et al. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 70, 1719–1730 (2006).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Gaunt, J. & Lehmann, J. Presentation at Power-Gen Renewable Energy and Fuels From Plant to Power Plant (Las Vegas, 6 March 2007).

    Google Scholar 

  8. EIA Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2005 report number DOE/EIA-0573 (2006).

  9. Jackson, R. B. & Schlesinger, W. H. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 45, 15827–15829 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. McCarl, B. A. & Schneider, U. A. Science 294, 2481–2482 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Stern, N. The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2007).

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lehmann, J. A handful of carbon. Nature 447, 143–144 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/447143a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/447143a

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing