2 days ago
Startup buries dead logs to trap carbon
A climate startup that once sought to use seedling-dropping drones to restore forests that were decimated by wildfires is trying a new approach: tapping carbon markets.
Mast Reforestation's latest plan is to bury torched timber in clay trenches, where scientists say carbon-rich logs can remain largely intact for thousands of years. The startup, previously known as DroneSeed, would then use revenue from the sale of carbon-removal credits to fund the planting of new trees on the fire-scarred landscapes.
The Seattle-based company intends to begin implementing its new plan Friday by burying 5,000 tons of deadwood at a burn site in Montana, according to co-founder and CEO Grant Canary. That's timber, he said, that could have provided fuel for future blazes or could have been disposed of in controlled burns — both of which produce additional carbon emissions.
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It's part of a larger project that aims to eventually remove the equivalent of 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide via Mast's biomass burial process, he said. The first phase would deliver removal credits later this year at a cost of less than $200 per ton. It's a timeline and price point that few other carbon removal projects can match.
