Fungi have often, and undeservedly, been perceived as inferior to the plant and animal kingdoms, but these microorganisms have the potential to help rescue the world from the devastating effects of climate change.
Just under our feet, there’s a universe of fungi that has made life on Earth possible. These master recyclers release nutrients that sustain all plant life and sequester carbon in the soil by capturing it from the air. The top meter of the world’s soils contains three times as much carbon as the entire atmosphere, making it a major carbon sink, alongside forests and oceans.
Now a new generation of biotech firms, scientists, and farmers are exploring the use of fungi to improve plants’ ability to suck carbon dioxide out of the air and store it in the soil long-term. It’s simply not enough to just cut back on the CO2 emissions we’re pumping into the atmosphere: To address climate change, we need to reduce the amount that’s already present.
Researchers are identifying the best fungi, out of an estimated trillion different microbial species, for storing huge levels of carbon underground. The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), a nonprofit group of scientists, has been mapping the world’s huge underground webs of fungi. These researchers are collecting 10,000 samples from around the world and using machine learning to discover biodiverse areas that could best protect natural ecosystems and store carbon, as well as identifying at-risk areas.
At Loam Bio, we have already collected a diverse library of thousands of fungi isolated from across Australia and North America, many of them new to science. Our team has used genetic sequencing and the latest bioinformatics tools to provide a better understanding of the inner workings of these organisms, how they interact with plants and influence carbon storage in soil. Following years of research in the lab, greenhouse, and field, we have developed our first products, microbial seed coatings that enhance carbon sequestration in agricultural crops.
In 2023, farmers will start to use such commercial fungi-based products to fight climate change. Farmers in Australia are now applying one such product to their seeds before they plant crops. It is made up of beneficial fungi that grow in the roots of the plants after they germinate. The plant draws carbon dioxide from the air and produces simple sugars via photosynthesis; the fungi convert these into complex and longer-lasting carbon compounds. Fungi play a crucial role in converting easily broken-down carbon compounds in soil into long-term stable forms. Some of these bind with minerals in the soil and remain there for hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of years. If this technology were applied to all of the soybean crops across America, it would offset the equivalent emissions of the entire US aviation industry, on an annual basis.
We are already working with companies such as the Australian grain commodity powerhouse GrainCorp to pilot this technology. In 2023, we will roll out our first microbial product to increase soil carbon at scale with Australian grain growers before deploying in the US.
Fungi are breaking new ground everywhere. Fungal mycelium has hit the market as a vegan substitute for leather. The fungi is grown in a controlled environment and then processed into sheets of a material that resembles leather in texture. Lululemon, Stella McCartney, and Adidas have unveiled “mylo” products. Companies have also used mycelium as a bonding agent to hold together wood particles for paneling, as well as for a durable, flame-retardant, and lightweight packaging. Startup MyForest Foods has announced the opening of a vertical farm near Albany, New York, where it plans to grow around 3 million pounds of mycelium a year, enough for a million pounds of imitation bacon.
If we can harness the untapped power of fungi and apply it to farmland—1.8 billion hectares globally—it could result in the largest carbon drawdown event in history. An annual growth rate of only 0.4 percent of the standing global soil organic carbon stocks could counterbalance the current increase in atmospheric CO2. It’s time fungi got the attention they deserve.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK