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Sort of. It would be nice if we could sequester the carbon already in the air in trees. The benefit is two fold: More trees, and removal of carbon that is alrea

by dymk 11y ago

Sort of. It would be nice if we could sequester the carbon already in the air in trees. The benefit is two fold: More trees, and removal of carbon that is already in the air from burning fossil fuels.

thrownaway2424 11y ago
You cannot just infinitely accumulate trees. In a steady state, forests neither sequester nor release carbon.
- sliverstorm 11y ago
  No, but you can still increase the amount of sequestered carbon by expanding forestland, as forest is a carbon sink. We can control atmospheric carbon by reducing emissions, but we can also control it by sequestering more carbon, which more forestland can help do.
- masklinn 11y ago
  > In a steady state, forests neither sequester nor release carbon. In a steady state, forests are carbon stores, same as coal veins, oil reservoirs or methane clathrate.
briholt 11y ago
To add on - the goal is to preserve more forest space. If we do that, we can effectively sequester that carbon for long periods of time.
DrPhish 11y ago
Wood construction (e.g. 2x4 or other dimension lumber houses) does this to some extent, although there is carbon emission inherent in the harvesting, sawmilling process, transportation to the worksite and actual house construction. I'm surprised there isn't more general public awareness of using wood in engineering processes to offset the carbon costs and provide long-term carbon sequestering
- ItsDeathball 11y ago
  This is what amuses me when people talk about ebooks being environmentally friendly. A paper book will usually be made of paper milled from a sustainably managed forest - we don't generally go clear-cutting virgin forests for wood pulp. A lot of sawmills and paper mills, furthermore, burn their waste wood and sawdust as fuel for the mill. The whole process, aside from transport, can be carbon-neutral, meaning a paper library can be seen as a repository of sequestered carbon. Moving from paper books to plastic tablets that consume power and need replacement every two years is anything but environmentally friendly.

by dymk 11y ago

thrownaway2424 11y ago

You cannot just infinitely accumulate trees. In a steady state, forests neither sequester nor release carbon.

sliverstorm 11y ago
No, but you can still increase the amount of sequestered carbon by expanding forestland, as forest is a carbon sink. We can control atmospheric carbon by reducing emissions, but we can also control it by sequestering more carbon, which more forestland can help do.
masklinn 11y ago
> In a steady state, forests neither sequester nor release carbon. In a steady state, forests are carbon stores, same as coal veins, oil reservoirs or methane clathrate.

briholt 11y ago

To add on - the goal is to preserve more forest space. If we do that, we can effectively sequester that carbon for long periods of time.

DrPhish 11y ago

Wood construction (e.g. 2x4 or other dimension lumber houses) does this to some extent, although there is carbon emission inherent in the harvesting, sawmilling process, transportation to the worksite and actual house construction. I'm surprised there isn't more general public awareness of using wood in engineering processes to offset the carbon costs and provide long-term carbon sequestering

ItsDeathball 11y ago
This is what amuses me when people talk about ebooks being environmentally friendly. A paper book will usually be made of paper milled from a sustainably managed forest - we don't generally go clear-cutting virgin forests for wood pulp. A lot of sawmills and paper mills, furthermore, burn their waste wood and sawdust as fuel for the mill. The whole process, aside from transport, can be carbon-neutral, meaning a paper library can be seen as a repository of sequestered carbon. Moving from paper books to plastic tablets that consume power and need replacement every two years is anything but environmentally friendly.