Review: biological engineering for nature-based climate solutions

Abstract

Nature-based Climate Solutions are landscape stewardship techniques to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase soil or biomass carbon sequestration. These mitigation approaches to climate change present an opportunity to supplement energy sector decarbonization and provide co-benefits in terms of ecosystem services and landscape productivity. The biological engineering profession must be involved in the research and implementation of these solutions—developing new tools to aid in decision-making, methods to optimize across different objectives, and new messaging frameworks to assist in prioritizing among different options. Furthermore, the biological engineering curriculum should be redesigned to reflect the needs of carbon-based landscape management. While doing so, the biological engineering community has an opportunity to embed justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion within both the classroom and the profession. Together these transformations will enhance our capacity to use sustainable landscape management as an active tool to mitigate the risks of climate change.

Sustainable Agriculture’s Contribution to Quality of Life

“…In this regard, several publications emphasize the environmental dimension of agriculture, which can be further subdivided into two groups: -nonproductive and productive. Authors from the first group, for instance, consider the impact of agricultural intensification on air quality [10], water quality [11], soil health [12], and biodiversity [13].…”

Biological Databases and Resources: Their Engineering and Applications in Synthetic Biology

“…In a similar way, multiple biochemical and molecular methodologies were optimized for use in microbiome engineering to enhance beneficial plant-microbiome interactions for improving crop yields [96,97]. In addition, biological engineering for nature-based climate solutions (NbCS) will help in creating a productive, resilient, and proactive "climatesmart agriculture" to mitigate the risks of climate change [98].…”

Socio-Economic and Environmental Implications of Bioenergy Crop Cultivation on Marginal African Drylands and Key Principles for a Sustainable Development

“…Another technology that could be implemented alongside large-scale BCS on MADs is biological engineering through carbon capture storage (CCS) [186]. CCS is based on the possibility of fixing atmospheric carbon in biomass as well as in soil and to accumulate it over a number of years.…”

“…In the case of perennial bioenergy crops, this property is particularly pronounced over the long term; on the one hand, because the root growth of the plants takes place over a long period of time and thus a continuous carbon sequestration takes place [187], and on the other hand, because their cultivation has been optimized for high yield performance [188]. Both, the storage of carbon in the biomass as well as in the soil is an important prerequisite for CCS strategies [186]. However, the carbon sequestration potential must always be considered in relation to the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) potential, as there are major differences between the various types of plant residues [189].…”

“…Again, this is especially true for perennial bioenergy crops (e.g., Table 3), as they are more prone to lignification than annual bioenergy crops [191]. However, since carbon sequestration potential must always be considered in the overall context of ecosystem service performance, social and environmental factors also play a major role [169,186]. Here, there can be large tradeoffs, for example between yield performance and biodiversity support, which was shown in a comparison of maize and wild plant species cultivation for biogas production [192].…”