Conference: CFS (Track 1): RadioSolutions: Making Radiocarbon Broadly Available for Natural Climate Solutions

Natural Climate Solutions (NCS), also referred to as Nature-based Climate Solutions, represent a broad portfolio of land and coastal ocean management options to mitigate climate change. Recently the interest in NCS has intensified due to a lack of success curtailing CO2 emissions. Many of these NCS technologies attempt to move carbon from the atmosphere into parts of ecosystems that store carbon such as soils and trees. Unfortunately, methods to measure and verify CO2 removal are often a NCS stumbling block. The radio isotope of carbon (14C) is a powerful tool to track carbon movement into ecosystems. Historically 14C measurements have been expensive and labor intensive. Recently, a MIni CArbon Dating System (MICADAS) was developed to conduct repeat 14C sampling of carbon in air and ecosystems. The MICADAS offers several advantages including lower costs and sample preparation time. The goal of this work is to explore mechanisms to make this instrument broadly available for scientists engaged in NCS research and development. Furthermore, the proposed community facility would establish training modules necessary for scientists new to isotopic work. These training modules will train scientists to take samples in the field and analyze 14C data to help determine the impact of their NCS on carbon cycling. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.