Black Carbon

Black carbon (BC) is the most strongly light-absorbing component of particle pollution, and is formed when incomplete combustion takes place as part of the process of burning fossil fuels and biomass (including biofuel, wood for residential heating and cooking, and wildfires). BC is a major component of soot, which also contains some organic carbon.

Per unit of mass in the atmosphere, BC can absorb a million times more energy than carbon dioxide. At a 10-year timescale, the current global release of methane from all anthropogenic sources exceeds all anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions as agents of global warming; that is, methane emissions are more important than carbon dioxide emissions for driving the current rate of global warming. Black carbon follows not far behind in regard to its short-term warming impact, as illustrated by the image below.

Apart from trapping heat in the atmosphere, soot also works in another way. When deposited on snow and ice, soot reduces the amount of sunlight reflected back into space. For more on this, also see the Dark Snow Project video below, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_6dS2_WGao

In conclusion, black carbon emissions are a huge problem. What can be done to reduce such emissions?

Land Use Feebates

To reduce emissions of soot, feebates can help. One type of feebates focuses on land use. It makes sense to implement policies that reduce biomass waste in ways that help the environment, such as by pyrolysis of biomass waste and by turning biomass waste into building material to construct houses and pavement. Fees could be levied on sales of livestock products, since these products cause a lot of emissions, both directly and indirectly (they cause deforestation when forests are turned into farms) and they are responsible for reduction of soil carbon content of farms. Revenues from such fees are best held by a Feebate Trust Fund to ensure that the money will fund rebates on addition of biochar to soil locally.

Pyrolysis of biomass waste and adding the resulting biochar to soil both avoids emissions, constitutes a long-term and safe way of storing carbon and enhances soil quality. Rebates on biochar to soil will make it more attractive for biomass waste to be turned into biochar.

Such rebates could also help fund more clearing of biomass waste in forests and turning this wate into biochar for addition to the soil locally. This will reduce the risk of wildfires in a number of ways, including:
- removal of surplus biomass waste in forests and its safe storage in the soil in the form of biochar
- biochar will increase soil fertility and the capability of soil to retain water (reducing wildfire risk)
- biochar also increases soil fertility, thus enhancing new growth, which is less prone to burning
- new growth will also strengthen the canope, providing more shade and lowering temperatures
- a healthy forest will increase humidity levels of the air in and above the forest
- a healthy forest can also enhance air circulation between sea and forest, giving the forest more rain

Other feebates to help biochar can add fees to local rates for land with reduced carbon content. The revenues could fund rebates on local rates for land with increased carbon content.

This type of feebate is depicted in the top diagram in the image below.

Energy Feebates

Another type of feebates seeks to help achieve a necessary shift from polluting energy to clean energy, as depicted in the bottom diagram in above image.

Fees can be levied on sales of fuel and on sales of engines, combustion ovens, kilns, furnaces and other types of cookers and heaters intended to burn fuel such as open fireplaces that may be sold as part of newly-constructed buildings.

In addition to such one-off fees on retail sales, fees could be raised annually when collecting local rates for property and vehicle registration.

Revenues are again best held by a Feebate Trust Fund to ensure that the money will fund rebates on the better alternatives sold locally, such as solar cookers, building insulation and appliances for electric cooking and heating. To further help the necessary shift to clean transport, rebates could also be given on local sales of components of electric vehicles such as motors and batteries, as well as on devices to recharge such batteries.