BiCRS (pronounced “Bikers”) is a new acronym, summarising “Biomass with Carbon Removal and Storage”. Woody Biomass Storage (“WBS”) is the acronym I’ve been using the last few months, which in turn had replaced Woody Biomass Burial (“WBB”). These seem to be progressively broad definitions, and there is some reason for being flexible. On the other hand, the broadness is less and less descriptive of a particular process. Despite the increasing vagueness, I’m adopting BiCRS. My priority is to have a cool acronym that evokes a happy memory. Long live “Bikers”.
But I’m not here to talk about biking, strolling, hang gliding, or any other form of transportation. Instead, the lowly cardboard box is on the agenda, perhaps the world’s most common packaging material. If stored and managed correctly it can provide reliable packaging for dozens or even hundreds of years. The contents of a box vary widely, but are almost always solid state objects, like books, clothing, or glassware. Boxes kept cool and dry, stacked carefully, in the dark, are a very effective wood product. On the other hand, cardboard boxes left outdoors in the sun and moisture, will almost certainly disintegrate.
Cardboard boxes share characteristics with BiCRS in surprising ways. My form of BiCRS–Woody Biomass Storage–is also a packaging material. When kept cool, dry, and away from oxygen, it can be a very effective “box”, storing its contents for hundreds or thousands of years.
The flexibility and range of Woody Biomass Storage (“WBS”) as a packaging material is lower than a box, but is much more durable and effective in its more limited scope. Our box-like wood product, cached underground, stores solid-state carbon atoms, for a long, long time. Intact dry wood is approximately 50% carbon atoms. If the wood can be preserved dry and intact for hundreds of years, the carbon atoms will be stored in the wood’s cellular structure. Nature has given us innumerable cases of ancient wood preserved for centuries.
At Wood Cache, PBC, we think words are important. When we cache wood underground for hundreds of years, it is a wood product, serving as packaging material for carbon atoms. It’s value is directly related to the duration of the packaging, so we keep the environment cool, dark, and dry. It’s important to package the carbon because releasing it to the air increases the CO2 concentration, which is progressively more poisonous to most species and heats our planet with unpredictable consequences.
The quality and duration of the packaging produced by Woody Biomass Storage is of vital interest to humans, all flora and fauna, our ecosystems, and our planet. “Bikers” ride, but “BiCRS” makes the ride more enjoyable. I just made that up.