TECHNICAL


6Carbon


Understanding the key elements


Carbon, a name that you will most likely have become increasingly familiar with in recent years, and one which fundamentally shapes the planet that you inhabit. What is so special about this element and by which means does it transcend in to many areas of turf management? Derek Fullerton aims to provide some transparency to these questions, and ultimately highlight how turf managers possess the ability to alter the carbon footprint of their land


S


ince the birth of the planet, the chemical element carbon (C) has played a pivotal role in its evolution. Deposited from comets and asteroids, both organic and inorganic C is recognised to have been a key ingredient for the initiation of life on Earth; this underpinned by the fact that it is a building block for 95% of the compounds known to man[1]


. Derived from the Latin word


(Fig 1). It is naturally occurring in the atmosphere in the form of carbon-12 (C-12), this ultimately incorporated into the bodies of animals via the primary & secondary consumer food chain. Prolifi c growth and


carbo, meaning coal, C is estimated to make up 0.032% of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle[1]


colonisation of the planet’s surface by vascular plants over millennia, leading to huge accumulations and reserves of organic matter (OM). This becoming a resource increasingly utilised by humans, one often referred to as fossil fuels. Its structural complexity and fl exibility is unique, making it possible for both some of the hardest and softest materials known to man, such as diamonds and graphite, to emanate from it. No other element has or will exert more infl uence in shaping the planet that you inhabit (Fig 2).


Derek Fullerton


Fig 2: Global carbon store


Fig 1: Shungite mineral rock with a carbon content greater than 98%


PC April/May 2021 127


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148