The first-of-its-kind agtech company leveraging machine learning (ML) to advance measurement and analysis of soil properties, EarthOptics announced today the launch of its Soil Carbon Project
Soil carbon sequestration is an important piece of the climate-change mitigation puzzle since almost 45 percent of global soil is used for agricultural purposes, and soil can store about 2.3 times the amount of carbon compared to the carbon in atmospheric CO2 and 3.5 times more than in living plants. CPG companies partnering with EarthOptics to implement the Soil Carbon Project will be able to accurately measure and display on qualifying climate-smart product packaging the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil where the agricultural ingredients were harvested.
EarthOptics Soil Carbon Project certification requirements and process
To qualify for the EarthOptics Soil Carbon Project, a product must contain raw ingredients, i.e., agricultural crops, that are grown in soil where they draw down carbon from the atmosphere to store in the soil. The Soil Carbon Project label will clearly display in pounds how much CO2 was removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil during the crop season. This information is validated through cutting-edge EarthOptics technology that combines on-field sensors, patented ML and baseline soil core samples to bring unmatched accuracy to soil-property measurement and analysis.
The EarthOptics Soil Carbon Project, as an incentive program, will allow consumers to reward food producers with premium pricing. It also helps heighten consumer awareness of soil carbon sequestration as one of the most significant considerations in a climate-smart product.
For producers, the EarthOptics Soil Carbon Project, as a crop incentive program, will also enable their participation in the Carbon Credit Marketplace, ensuring economic vitality is realized from climate smart agriculture practices.
“For a labeling initiative to be successful, it needs to be accurate and trustworthy. Measuring soil carbon retention for food and other consumer goods historically has been a costly and time-intensive endeavor. What we’ve been able to do at EarthOptics is move the soil carbon needle from estimation to accurate, verifiable measurements,” explains EarthOptics CEO Lars Dyrud.
“Consumers will be able to look at our Soil Carbon Project label and appreciate that the corn used to make their cornflakes took one pound of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and kept it in the soil, or the grain used to produce a six-pack of beer took 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.”
Measurement accuracy begins with baseline soil core samples used as training data for the EarthOptics ML software. Then the GroundOwl
The data is transferred to the C-Mapper
“Using the combination of GroundOwl and C-Mapper, we not only reduce the number of costly lab-tested soil samples, but we also deliver the accuracy needed to reliably report the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere. We’re using advanced technology to provide real measurements while simplifying analysis at reduced cost,” Dyrud elaborates.
Driving change through climate-smart agriculture
Removing CO2 from the atmosphere is critical to mitigating climate change. Carbon dioxide is the leading greenhouse gas (GHG) present in the atmosphere and can remain there for thousands of years. Scientists estimate that soils, particularly farm soils, could sequester more than a billion tons of additional carbon each year.
Farmers using the EarthOptics tools to accurately measure, report and verify the carbon content of their soils can help companies not only offset their GHG emissions but also give consumers the option to purchase climate-smart products that were accurately measured and verified to have removed CO2 from the atmosphere.
“We envision companies working with their contract growers to implement our GroundOwl and C-Mapper technologies to accurately measure, report and verify the change in carbon content within the soil during that crop season. Then that information can be displayed on product packaging to appeal to consumers demanding climate-smart products,” Dyrud explains. “Our Soil Carbon Project gives companies the ability to accurately demonstrate carbon removal on their soil-related products and quickly show their climate-positive impact in one area of their enterprise while they continue down their road of carbon neutrality in the rest of their supply chain.”
By collaborating with CPG companies and farmers, EarthOptics can enable more climate-smart management practices. Using the cutting-edge EarthOptics technology suite, farmers are able to make more informed decisions that can help them till smarter and sequester more carbon. The Till-Mapper
In addition, the EarthOptics engineering and research teams are continuing to develop capabilities to measure and map more soil properties, including nutrient and moisture content, so farmers can drive climate-smart agricultural practices and lead continued efforts toward climate change mitigation.
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