A new groundbreaking research product in the United Kingdom is looking to significantly reduce the country’s carbon footprint while increasing crop resistance. This project is called the UK Carbon Capture Project and has many moving parts. The £5.9 million Centre for High Carbon Capture Cropping, backed by Defra’s Farming Futures Fund will explore many different crops and their ability to store carbon in the soil.
One of the many plants being experimented on is industrial hemp. Their goal is to get the hemp to store carbon within the soil and produce crop-based products with energy from the carbon. This project has a whopping 22 different research and industry partners including Elsoms Seeds, University of York’s Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, and CHCx3.
The first goal is to see if hemp can be used as a multi-purpose crop. Hemp has an impressive history of carbon sequestration, and the researchers are hopeful. If hemp can stand up to the tests, countries can then use the plant for buildings, clothes, therapeutical needs, AND reducing carbon emissions.
Hemp plants are known for dense extensive root systems that allow for the sequestration of carbon. Focusing on hemp would allow the UK to boost renewable biomaterial production of fiber, textiles, and construction.
This research is still in its infancy but is expected to go on for the next few years.
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