But the associated increase in wildfires will really be a bear.
Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
111–120 of 332 posts
Re: Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
#112An interesting idea I had. Obviously it’s destructive but maybe still a net win? Go through every forest on earth and cut down every third tree and sequester it so it won’t decompose and release the carbon. Then the forest rengerates itself and pulls all that carbon out of the atmosphere. Or an idea for a billionaire. Buy out the entire worlds annual output of lumber and sequester it.
The tree grows anyway, plausibly at a faster rate than a small one (slower proportionally,but more in absolute volume) while keeping the existing volume sequestered, so cutting it down does not seem effective. You could dump vegetables or corn in a hole though, but I've read that's not a cost effective solution either.
I heard forests were carbon neutral since old trees die and decompose and then new ones replace them.
Re: Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
#113A good way to take part in increasing the number of trees, if you own your own home, is to improve the state of your shade trees. The trees absorb atmospheric carbon while also reducing home temperatures in summer, which in turn reduces the electricity people use for cooling. (And you save money!!) So a shade tree is a particularly effective way to reduce both atmospheric CO2 and electric bills. You might think of sh…
Cuts into my solar power generation through. So its a trade-off. Interestingly enough, from an energy production perspective the solar panels on the roof result in more reduction in CO2 than the trees do.
Trees come with a whole bunch of other issues. I have something like 40 trees ranging up to 20m tall. Cleaning up the leaves and branches is a year-round job. Collecting and removing the waste involves time, money and CO2 producing trucks. If not removed promptly, waste left up on my flat roof causes water damage after rains. Heavy storms make me nervous because I've once seen a set of healthy branches large enough to kill me snap right off (this was some time after the storm).
Some of the trees also attract rats, which drives my dogs nuts at night and is then a source of anxiety given the high crime rate in our country. Trees along the perimeter of the property have damaged the boundary walls, and other trees have ruined sewerage lines. If you want to plant trees, make sure you understand the potential future costs associated with them.
Re: Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's only 160 trees for every man, woman, and child on Earth... It doesn't seem like a particularly practical solution.
It seems incredibly practical to me. I've seen a quote for 40 dollars to plant a thousand trees. That's something like 50 billion to offset a decade of global warming? Doesn't sound so bad. Spread the cost out worldwide, 5 billion a year, split between a few big countries? http://forestandrange.org/southernpine/magement/planting/rea...
I don't think planting trees is the biggest issue. Access to water is. More practical solution would be to fill some desert with sea water and grow plankton, kelp etc.
Re: Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
#115A good way to take part in increasing the number of trees, if you own your own home, is to improve the state of your shade trees. The trees absorb atmospheric carbon while also reducing home temperatures in summer, which in turn reduces the electricity people use for cooling. (And you save money!!) So a shade tree is a particularly effective way to reduce both atmospheric CO2 and electric bills. You might think of sh…
Where do you live where shade trees are a thing?
Re: Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s pretty trivial to prove. Grid tied systems sell excess electricity back at bulk rates, at least in some states, which means that the solar panels are producing more electricity than the home needs for cooling. Thus such a house is actually spending negative carbon on cooling, since they’re providing green energy for their neighbors. A shade tree can reduce your need for electricity, but it can’t turn you into…
Depending on the tree(s), it could be consuming CO2 24 hours a day, year round, solar is just part of the day and only reaches capacity for a brief moment. I don't know the numbers to show the difference. That is why I asked for some facts which the OP seems to know.
Trees consume CO2 because it's part of photosynthesis, so that's actually on the same schedule as a solar panel's electricity production. At night they're actually continuing to release some of that CO2.
Re: Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
All things considered, clearing a forest to help wean us of natural gas and oil is probably a net positive.
nuclear power is significantly more (space-, energy-, ..) efficient and clean than solar farms https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/05/23...
Except for those two huge externalities that are never priced in and always overlooked by people who say nuclear is 'clean': the waste that will remain toxic for a very long time, and the risk of accidents (slim, but the consequences are really, really, really bad).
Re: Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s pretty trivial to prove. Grid tied systems sell excess electricity back at bulk rates, at least in some states, which means that the solar panels are producing more electricity than the home needs for cooling. Thus such a house is actually spending negative carbon on cooling, since they’re providing green energy for their neighbors. A shade tree can reduce your need for electricity, but it can’t turn you into…
Depending on the tree(s), it could be consuming CO2 24 hours a day, year round, solar is just part of the day and only reaches capacity for a brief moment. I don't know the numbers to show the difference. That is why I asked for some facts which the OP seems to know.
A single average fully grown tree can sequester about 88lbs of CO2 per year according to the Center for Urban Forest Research, which is part of the US Forest Service. The average electricity service in the US produces about 1lb of CO2 per kWh, meaning that your solar panel needs to reduce your consumption by only 88 kWh per year below what your shaded house cost would be to be a net positive over a shade tree.
Re: Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
#119You don't cure cancer taking painkillers. You should both go after the symptoms (if they are bad enough at least, that they are now) and the root cause, because if you don't solve the real disease the symptom mitigations will be shortlived, as the patient.
Re: Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s pretty trivial to prove. Grid tied systems sell excess electricity back at bulk rates, at least in some states, which means that the solar panels are producing more electricity than the home needs for cooling. Thus such a house is actually spending negative carbon on cooling, since they’re providing green energy for their neighbors. A shade tree can reduce your need for electricity, but it can’t turn you into…
Depending on the tree(s), it could be consuming CO2 24 hours a day, year round, solar is just part of the day and only reaches capacity for a brief moment. I don't know the numbers to show the difference. That is why I asked for some facts which the OP seems to know.
Trees don't really continuously "consume" CO2 in this manner. The only CO2 removed by a tree is the carbon that ends up permanently Incorporated in the wood itself.
And if you burn that wood, it's all released back into the air. Even if it just dies and decays, some of it ends up being released.