To keep Earth safe from dangerous climate change, a large amount of CO2 will need to be removed from the atmosphere and stored away permanently, via negative emissions technology (NET), for example, planting trees. But planting trees is not enough.

The natural carbon cycle is in near balance. In an established forest, some trees absorb large quantity of CO2, but other trees die, decay and release carbon back into the atmosphere. The idea of Wood Harvesting and Storage (WHS) proposes management intervention by wood harvesting or wood residual collection, followed by storage in anoxic (oxygen-depleted) subterranean or extremely dry or cold conditions to prevent decomposition. Because the forest as a whole is still maintained and continues to absorb CO2, the net effect is to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The engineering “structure” to ensure long-durability storage is called Wood Vault.

While photosynthesis is ‘free’, the forest needs to be sustainably managed, just like raising healthy chicken for collecting eggs. WHS accelerates and expands the carbon benefits by forests, while enhancing forest health. Economically viable technology and engineering techniques need to be developed to ensure environmentally sound harvesting and permanent storage. If done right, WHS provides a low-cost, distributed carbon sequestration technology with the potential to scale to 2-10 GtCO2/y, while providing many green jobs. Indeed, burying wood is the first step of coal formation, and thus is a ‘natural’ way to undo fossil fuel emissions. 

The Carbon Lockdown Project (CLP) was created to facilitate sustainable carbon sequestration technologies. Our objectives include project development, project evaluation, monitoring and certification, and information exchange platforms.  We currently focus on two aspects of wood harvesting and storage:

• Best methods to ensure longevity of stored wood while minimizing environmental impact

• Optimal methods to manage forests for wood harvesting; sources of wood residuals with co-benefits such as reduction of fire risk.