Regen Network Announced Keeling Curve Prize Finalist
The winners will be announced June 28th, 2019 in Aspen, Colorado. We are honored and humbled to be part of this evolving network of solutions.
Throughout most of human history, atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have hovered around 280 parts per million. However, the Industrial Revolution’s reliance on the burning of fossil fuels and degradation of living systems has created a domino-effect of greenhouse gas emissions, raising the concentration of CO2 to over 400ppm. To avoid cataclysmic impact on civilization, scientists have agreed we should cap the CO2 level at 350ppm, though 280 is a much safer level to maintain a healthy planet. And so, we find ourselves in “overshot” of what scientists believe is safe.
The Keeling Curve is a graph charting the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere based on continuous measurements from Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory from 1957 on. Its general trend since its inception is steadily positive.
In addition to unhealthy anthropogenic emissions, our society is degrading the mechanisms through which greenhouse gases can be naturally sequestered. Scientists estimate that since the Industrial Revolution, land clearing and agriculture cultivation practices have released 136 Gt of carbon from the world’s soil. (Lal 2004)
Simply stopping GHG emissions isn’t enough. We have to turn back the dial by putting carbon back in the ground, where it came from. The answer lies right under our feet.
Regen Network’s vision is to regenerate our planet’s soils via land stewardship, particularly in the agricultural community. Land stewards who grow food have huge potential to sequester carbon, reduce runoff and erosion, produce higher yields, and stop the detrimental, conventional farming practices that have depleted our land for the past couple hundred years. To support our project, we submitted an application for The Keeling Curve Prize — and were recently announced as a finalist! The KCP was founded in 2017 by Jacquelyn Francis, to advance the knowledge, development, and implementation of contemporary solutions that will make a prosperous future viable.
“The Keeling Curve Prize is a wonderful way to continue the process of harnessing the best ideas to help combat climate change.” — David Bookbinder, Niskanen Center
Each year, the Keeling Curve Prize award hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money to projects across the globe that have significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase uptake.
Regen Network is a finalist in the 2019 Keeling Curve Prize for Carbon Capture & Utilization! The winners will be announced June 28th, 2019 in Aspen, Colorado. We are honored and humbled to be part of this evolving network of solutions.
Check out the other finalists and sign up for updates on the Keeling Curve Prize website.
