Soil Carbon startup using fungi raises USD 6.9 million

🔎  What’s going on?

Agtech, startup Soil Carbon uses tiny Fungi (an organism that can reproduce by itself) to store carbon in the soil. They have raised USD 6.9 million from investors including Horizon Ventures (backed by billionaire Li Ka-Shing), Lowercarbon Capital and Grok Ventures.  

🍄  Cool, tell me more!

At a fundamental level, we all understand how soil carbon sequestration (or storage) works. Plants use up carbon dioxide from the air to grow using the process of photosynthesis. They then store carbon and other elements, such as hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen in the soil as ‘Soil Organic Matter’ (SOM). 

SOM usually contains three types of matter: 

1. a mixture of plant and animal tissue at various stages of breakdown (i.e compost), 
2. living microbes (such as fungi, bacteria, protozoa and tiny roundworms) and 
3. humus - which is stable soil that’s left after everything is broken down.

It’s usually estimated that carbon is 58% of SOM. Soil Carbon is creating products which enhance the relationship that living microbes (in this case tiny melanised endophytic fungi) have with plant tissue to increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil. 

❓ Why should I care?

There are two problems here that Soil Carbon are solving: 

1) Current agricultural practices are leading to decreased soil fertility (meaning less SOM) whilst 2) Atmospheric carbon dioxide is increasing at the same time. 

The solution is to capture carbon back into the soil. Turns out that soil or dirt is a biological carbon capture process. A much more efficient method than anything we can build because it has evolved for more than 3.8 billion years! 

🚦 Where do we need to be?

According to the IPCC, soil carbon sequestration could remove between 2 to 5 gigatons of carbon dioxide a year at a cost ranging from less than $0 to $100 per ton.  Compared to other methods of carbon capture, this is the cheapest and most efficient. Have a look. 

Implementing easy agriculture techniques in everyday farming can increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil, for example: 

• Crop rotations - changing up the crops grown in the same patch of land replicates natural ecosystems. Varying the types of crops increases the level of SOM. 
• Cover cropping - growing crops such as clover or small grains improves the soil structure by adding organic matter to the soil. 
• Conservation tillage or mulch tillage - is a method of turning or preparing the soil which leaves at least 30% or more of crop residues on the soil surface. This naturally increases the level of SOM. 

👤  What can I do about it?

1. Let your grass grow longer in your garden before you mow them. Even better, don’t mow your lawn! This means that the roots grow longer, capturing plenty of carbon. 
2. Plant perennials! Any plants that live longer, store more carbon. 
3. Cover your soil with lots of plants or mulch. Bare soil leads to soil erosion. 
4. Reduce or stop tilling in your garden.
5. Minimise the use of fertilisers in your garden. 

Related: Pivot Bio raises $100 million to disrupt nitrogen market.