Estimation of Carbon Captured using the Walkey and Black Technique by Tillandsia Purpurea in the Amara loma Ocucaje- Perú

Abstract

Carbon capture helps regulate the environment's temperature and thereby mitigate the impact of global warming. For carbon capture, various techniques are employed, such as membrane separation and chemical absorption (Girimonte et al., 2024); however, tillandsias are capable of doing it naturally. The objective was to determine the amount of carbon and water in Tillandsia purpurea and to estimate the total carbon captured on the Amara loma. Forty 1 m2 plots were sampled, and six individuals were collected from each to determine their wet and dry weight (the samples were dried at 105 °C for 48 hours); the difference between the two allowed for the estimation of the amount of water. To obtain the %H (amount of water stored in the biomass), moisture was subtracted, and the results were subsequently extrapolated for the entire hill. To obtain carbon, 300 g of T. purpurea and 200 g of soil were extracted and processed in the Soil, Plant, Water, and Fertilizers Analysis Laboratory (LASPAF-UNALM) using the Walkley and Black technique; then the total amount for the hill was estimated through Kriging modeling using ArcGIS. An average fresh biomass of 25.2 g and 72.5% humidity was recorded; regarding carbon capture, 35.4 Tn C/ha was estimated for aerial carbon, which is the biomass of the tillandsial, and 19.4 Tn C/ha for the soil. The sum of both was 54.8 Tn C/ha, which captures the tillandsial of the Amara loma with an area of 7,338.63 ha. Copyright © 2025, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.