Commentary on sequestering atmospheric CO2 inorganically: a solution for Malaysia’s CO2 emission

The commentary questions the basis behind an article on accounting and calculating inorganic carbon sequestration services for Malaysia. We point out the omission of coastal vegetated ecosystems. We also bring the author’s attention to the problems of using a seemingly resultant chemistry within open systems, in which reactive species come from external sources. In addition, we point out that ecosystem services in the mitigation of climate change must be referenced against a manufacturing process, such as cement’s normal lifetime of carbon dioxide sequestration. Without such a reference state, sequestration services may be severely overestimated and when used within a cap and trade system, it will lead to an increased rate of carbon dioxide emissions.