A new study in Japan is taking place to determine the feasibility of what is known as ‘blue carbon’.
There are different nature-based solutions that can help mitigate the climate crisis, among which is the natural sequestration of CO2 by trees, for example.
Another thing that captures carbon naturally is the ocean and coastal ecosystems.
In fact, seagrasses and other coastal flora have been known to effectively capture and store CO2 through photosynthesis.
The atmospheric CO2 that is captured this way is referred to as ‘blue carbon’.
And now the Tokyo-based company Japan Blue Carbon Project is conducting an experiment in one of Japan’s northern ports, on the island of Hokkaido, to study the conditions under which the growth of seagrass can be enhanced.
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The Hokkaido experiment is set to continue over the course of the next three years.
Up until now, the land ministry of Japan had conducted research to determine the blue carbon capture properties of seagrass, which found that 1 square meter (~10.7 square feet) of seagrass can store 2.4 times more CO2 than the same area of forest.
Hence, Japan Blue Carbon Project now aims to make due use of the nation’s coastline and potentially start selling blue carbon credits at some point in the future.
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