Based on calculations by two scientists published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last March, growing ectomycorrhizal fungi while raising forests could sequester up to 12.8 metric tons of carbon per hectare per year—a stark contrast to the production of other protein-rich foods, which overall results in net carbon dioxide emissions. Even crops such as legumes, which you might think have negative or neutral carbon emissions, are net emitters throughout their lives.
“Almost all other crops we grow will release carbon as they grow throughout their life cycle. Even if you have a plant that absorbs carbon as it grows, the entire production system will release it,” Jump says. “But when you grow mycorrhizal fungi associated with trees, because trees suck so much carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, that means the system itself is carbon negative.”
They also calculated that 668 square meters of land would produce 1 kilogram of mushroom protein, making it potentially more productive than beef production, which ranges from 37 to 2,100 square meters per kilogram. But to achieve this goal on a gigantic scale, they need to develop techniques that can be easily applied to the forestry industry.
“The goal is for us to be able to go to an existing tree nursery, learn about their practices, and find out how we can grow mycorrhizae in the root system for cheap,” Thomas explains. “If we do it this cheaply and easily, we can make really big gains in terms of environmental impact.”
The study initially focuses on the types of trees most commonly used in forestry plantations in the UK. However, with global temperatures expected to escalate in the coming decades, it is also essential to ensure the viability of tree and fungal species throughout their lives. “We have a range of distribution maps that we have developed over decades and where we can demonstrate, consistent with all the data we have at the moment, that these are viable systems across multiple forestry rotations,” he added. says Skok. The team is currently modeling at the stand level, a unit of forest made up of a relatively uniform group of trees, to assess the optimal spacing between trees.