Room:
Meeting room 18 (M 18)
Topic:
Soil, groundwater and sediment in the biobased, circular economy
Form of presentation:
Free Session Proposal
Duration:
90 Minutes
Harvest biomass for a biobased economy or leave it on the land for soil fertility? This is the central topic of this session. Soil organic matter is an important asset of soils. It is relevant for soil fertility and food security, water holding capacity and carbon storage. Loss of soil organic matter is considered to be a threat in the EU soil strategy. Additionally, society aims at sustainable development goals and greening the economy. Soil organic matter is a key parameter for these aspirations. How can soil quality be maintained in a biobased economy that increasingly demands biomass. Can we estimate an optimal soil organic content? What percentage of the harvest residues should be left on the land? Does it matter which crop to grow? What is the environmental risk of potentially contaminated organic residues?
Program:
• Welcome and general introduction
• Short pitches to illustrate the topic
• Discussion in groups on the carbon dilemma
• Plenary feed back
• Closing remarks
09:00 am
The carbon dilemma: biomass for the biobased economy or for soil fertility? Subtitle: On how to develop a biobased economy into a circular economy
Sandra Boekhold | RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment | Netherlands
Show details
Authors:
Sandra Boekhold | RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment | Netherlands
Margot De Cleen | Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Rijkswaterstaat | Netherlands
Session Proposal for AquaConSoil 2015
1. Title of the session: The carbon dilemma: biomass for the biobased economy or for soil fertility?
Subtitle: On how to develop a biobased economy into a circular economy
2. Organizers of the session: Sandra Boekhold, Soil Protection Technical Committee, the Netherlands and Margot de Cleen, RWS, the Netherlands
3. contact person: Sandra Boekhold, boekhold@tcbodem.nl
4. Theme 2: soil, groundwater and sediment in the biobased circular economy
5. Main idea of the session
Harvest biomass for a biobased economy or leave it on the land for soil fertility? This is the central topic of this session.
Soil organic matter is an important asset of soils. It is relevant for soil fertility and food security, water holding capacity and carbon storage. Loss of soil organic matter is considered to be a threat in the EU soil strategy. Additionally, society aims at sustainable development goals and greening the economy. Soil organic matter is a key parameter for these aspirations.
We would like to discuss with the attendants how soil quality can be maintained in a biobased economy that increasingly demands biomass. Can we estimate a optimal soil organic content? What percentage of the harvest residues should be left on the land? Do it matter which crop to grow? What is the environmental risk of potentially contaminated organic residues ?
6. The form
The form of the session will be a welcome and general introduction by the convenor, followed by several short pitches to illustrate the topic, that will present different points of view and inspire the coming discussion with the audience. Max. 30 minutes. After that a World Cafe format: several small groups will discuss the carbon dilemma and write down their findings on paper: define it in more detail, discuss what needs to be done and define relevant stakeholders. Exact round table discussion themes to be chosen . After some 20 minutes the groups change tables and continue the previous discussion which will be explained by the appointed table coordinator. After two or three changes of the tables the group reconvene and the table coordinators will give a short plenary feed back to the group. The session is ended by some closing remarks by the convenor.
Possible topics to be discussed: Why is biomass in soils important? What societal challenges can be met by increasing the biomass content in soils? What hindrances have to be overcome? What is the urgency?
We will use the outcomes of the Global Soil Week that will be held in April 2015 to prepare this session.
We do have a network of people attending ACS and thus are able to commit delegates to facilitate the discussions. However, we prefer to work with other attendants yet unknown to us who are interested in this topic. Final round table discussion themes will be defined with these interested attendants. We expect the AquaConSoil organization to facilitate this by connecting possibly interested abstract authors and other relevant attendants with this session.
7. Names of presenters:
Pitch by Sandra Boekhold on the carbon dilemma
Possibly pitches by several others who will attend the conference, based on submitted abstracts.
8. Session convenor: Margot de Cleen, RWS, the Netherlands