Illinois Researchers Developing Carbon Sequestration Tool for Farmers

Organic farming is often cited as an effective means of reversing climate change because carbon is sequestered in the soil, but I've always wondered how easy it is to actually gauge the level of carbon sequestration. This video, which was produced by the The Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture Program at the University of Illinois, explains that old methods of measuring carbon were difficult, because farmers would have to bring samples into a lab. However, researchers at the University of Illinois are working on developing a tool that would enable farmers the amount of carbon sequestered in their soil.

As Dr. Wes Jerrell explains in the video, many of the methods used to measure carbon in the soil were developed as much as 100 years ago. The researchers are using a technique called "laser-induced spectroscopy," which means they're using lasers to burn the soil, and then measuring the light emitted from the burning soil.

The goal is to develop a portable unit that could be take out to fields and used to zap soil, both on the surface and further down.

-Mark