How soil can help the climate
Future Super was founded to help people take climate action, and uses the power of money to invest in a fossil fuel-free future and say no to investments that fuel emissions.
We make direct investments in renewable energies as part of this, but our pursuit of climate solutions doesn’t end there. One of our more interesting investments, through Artesian, helps farmers and landowners optimise the microorganisms in their soil as a natural carbon sink. It’s called Loam Bio and we reckon it’s an amazing, simple but effective bit of biotech – so we wanted to share it.
Those of us committed to fighting climate change are supporting every proven tool in our kit to both reduce emissions and harness nature to store excess CO2 – and even the ground beneath our feet can help us here.
Healthy soil is a natural carbon sink, because it contains tiny microbes, fungi and other organisms that store or process the carbon. When plants photosynthesise, they absorb CO2 from the air, converting it into compounds which reach the soil via the roots and sustain microbial life there. When the plant (or its roots) decay, these microbes break it down, trapping the carbon in the soil.
The problem is, a lot of soils are degraded through decades of farming – losing carbon back into the atmosphere during harvests and droughts, for example – and farmers are often looking for ways to improve soil health by increasing its carbon content.
Loam Bio's CarbonBuilder inoculum basically introduces the specially selected beneficial fungi to canola, wheat or barley seeds that increase the soil's capacity to sequester carbon, by adding microbes to canola, wheat or barley seeds before they’re planted. This enhances the plant's capacity to sequester carbon in the soil in a more stable and lasting form.
The inoculum has the potential to turn croplands into vast carbon sinks, breaking the cycle of degradation and nourishing Australia’s soils while supporting food security and farmers’ livelihoods.
On top of enhanced crop yields, farmers can earn carbon credits from this practice and sell them to companies looking to offset their emissions. By harnessing the power of soil microbes to sequester carbon, Loam Bio offers a sustainable approach to agriculture that benefits the environment, combats climate change and provides economic returns to farmers. We love it!
Loam Bio is a startup that we’re supporting through our investment in the Artesian Clean Energy Seed Fund, which invests in clean-tech startups – stuff like renewable energy developments and energy-optimising tech such as smart grids and storage… and carbon management solutions that help the climate.
If you’re in High Growth, Renewables+ or FS Balanced Impact your money is helping Loam Bio keep carbon out of the atmosphere.
See futuresuper.com.au/how-we-invest for information about our screening and investment processes. Investments may be held directly, or indirectly through Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and other managed investment vehicles.