[RosanaAnaDana]

Whatever their answer they'll need to account for the fuel cost of the trip to a facility, lifecycle cost of the instrumentation, and fuel cost of a return trip for where ever the whatever is going to go.

I can tell you right now having done experimental LCA previously, its not gonna pen out. The cost of moving massive amounts of 'stuff' to do 'something' with it when its an extremely low margin, low value add product; this will end up generating more CO2 than it sequesters.

If you can't do it in place, you likely can't do it.

[YeGoblynQueenne]

Couldn't the bio-oil generated by the process be used to power the transport and supply lines? Or don't the maths work out? I don't know any of the numbers here...

[RosanaAnaDana]

You have to drive the 'stuff' to 'somewhere' to turn it into 'whatever'.

The stuff costs more in CO2 to drive to the place than you get from turning it into 'whatever'.

[YeGoblynQueenne]

But is this a general and inescapable rule?

[RosanaAnaDana]

I think that would be a very interesting question to try and address in a meta-analysis.

[dreamcompiler]

That would defeat the purpose. Burning the bio-oil to extract energy from it would just pump CO2 into the atmosphere.

[YeGoblynQueenne]

Yes, I understand that, but I thought that most of the CO2 is bound to the ash that's supposed to be buried underground? So there would be a net reduction of CO2, even if the bio-oil was burned?

[dbcurtis]

Yes, that is my take. It only works economically if the soil nutrients come back to the field, and it costs no more (net) than adding a stalk chopper to the combine.

Extra trips over the field burn fuel, and something needs to pay for the dollar cost of that (in added fertilizer value or something) not to mention the net carbon emissions of burning diesel to go over the field again.

[colechristensen]

You usually have to have entirely renewable generated electric powered processes in order to actually sink meaningful amounts of carbon.

And even then, to actually sink carbon the correct thing to do would be to electrify the farm machinery for a much higher carbon ROI.