Immobilized carbon in shells from Argopecten purpuratus cultures in Peru and its potential in the carbon market

Abstract

In Peru, the industrial cultivation of Argopecten purpuratus generates significant amounts of shells, considered as waste; however, they are structures that for their development sequester the carbon present in the water, contributing to the mitigation of climate change. In this sense, in order to quantify the amount of carbon sequestered by the A. purpuratus valves in culture, and to analyze their potential in the carbon bonds market, samples of living organisms and empty valves were obtained from the cultures. in Piura and Ancash, and documentary information on production in the country since 1996 has been reviewed. To determine the amount of carbon in the shells, the thermogravimetric method was applied, and then a projection of carbon sequestration to 2030 has been made. It is estimated that in the period 2010-2020, the sequestration of carbon by the shells of the crop in the country was about 10 000 t of CO₂ year^-1, or 2730.79 tC immobilized year^-1, estimating that in the year 2030 the production of A. purpuratus is 117 299.43 t, and that in the period 2021-2030, 198,182.45 tCO₂e would have been sequestered or immobilized 54 119.40 tC. This information would allow Peru to consider the possibility of entering the Voluntary Carbon Market.