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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 Se
by village-idiot 8y ago
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.
- VBprogrammer 8y agoDon't quote me on this but from memory a tree is able to sequester a lot more in the first couple of years than as a fully grown tree. Intuitively that makes sense.
- village-idiot 8y agoYes, that is true. The carbon sequestration is greatest when the tree is turning CO2 into more tree (e.g. when it’s growing). This process largely stops as a tree hits maturity, and the CO2 is mostly returned when the tree burns or rots. I’m making the explicit assumption that a shade tree will probably be fully grown.