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33 sats \ 2 replies \ @faithandcredit 6 Dec 2022 \ on: Daily discussion thread
Do you think that farming reduces CO2 emissions since the crops that are being grown grow fast and big and likely consume lots of CO2 in the process? Imagine a wheat field getting abandonded, no more farming, because of a tax or just its plain banned, what would grow instead? Some kind of weed? How much CO2 do they consume compared to for example wheat or any other crop a farmer would plant.
The reason i ask is because of much the land around the world is covered by farms. We have developed and organised it and planted crops that grow optimally. Look at this picture, farms as far as the eye can see. But what if this farming stopped? There would be random weeds growing, maybe some trees, over time. But it wouldnt be as effecient as what the farmers can do.
You can argue that those fields are a form of natural solar panels. They are absorbing the sun AND co2 among other things, and providing energy to us in the end in the form of carbs and what not.
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I'd guess this has been written about/researched pretty extensively. One of the arguments in favor of pastured cattle is it can revitalize deserts into grassland and "sink" more carbon. I'd guess there aren't significant deviations in normal CO2 metabolism between plants.
Farms, given the machinery and transportation involved in the end-to-end process, probably produce nearly as much carbon as they capture.
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