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Even if (which is far from the reality) only dead wood would be collected from the forest, it's still releasing CO2 which would otherwise be mostly sequestrated
by eliaspro 6y ago
Even if (which is far from the reality) only dead wood would be collected from the forest, it's still releasing CO2 which would otherwise be mostly sequestrated by microorganisms and fungi in the forest soil and provide a key ingredient to a functioning soil ecosystem.
The reality is: huge amounts of protected forests (e.g. in Romania or Estonia) are cut down and sold as firewood in central Europe.
- alamortsubite 6y agoLive trees are full of water, and take, in my experience, two years minimum after they die to season properly before their wood can be burned in a stove. If people are harvesting live trees for firewood, my guess is they're desperate for other options. I don't think that's the case in NZ (the context for this discussion), but I admit to being clueless about the situation in Central Europe. Also, if a dead tree is laying on the ground and your options are 1) use it to heat your home, or 2) leave it the to mushrooms and bugs and burn fossil fuel instead, then if the environment is your concern, I don't see how you could pick the latter. Keep in mind that one of the best things about heating with wood is that it takes a tremendous amount of effort on the part of the end user. Cutting, splitting, stacking, starting a fire, feeding the stove, adjusting the stove, taking out the ashes. Some of us enjoy it, but it's definitely a lot of hard work, and I'd argue all the time you put into it makes you far more in touch with how much energy you consume than someone who simply twists a dial on the wall and kicks back to Netflix. You might even choose a much smaller house and wear a sweater. I've hiked in a forest in Romania. Despite the fact that it was a great place to be eaten by a bear, it was spectacular and a resource to be treasured.
- NoImmatureAdHom 6y agoI'm pretty sure live trees are harvested, cut to length and split into firewood, dried for two years, and sold. It's sort of necessarily true that the trees used are dead. I think the point is: many are killed specifically to produce firewood.
- alamortsubite 6y agoCan you please provide a reference? Writing as someone with a wood stove, with neighbors with wood stoves, whose fuel comes from trees that are not felled for firewood, I'm very skeptical this is true in the context of the article we're discussing.
- NoImmatureAdHom 5y agoI can't, and it's entirely possible you're right about your wood and your neighbors. Some of the wood I could buy in the U.S. is birch harvested in the Baltics. I've seen videos of harvesting operations that are definitely harvesting live birch and splitting it with equipment that's all designed with that in mind. But I've got no proof for you!
- jpollock 6y agoIn NZ, pine trees are an invasive pest. https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/weeds/common-weeds/wilding-conifers/ https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/weeds/commo...
- alamortsubite 6y agoI can't imagine burning pine in a stove, except as kindling. The notable invasive species where I live is ailanthus. I've burned some out of curiosity. It's better than pine, but not worth the trouble when you're tripping over red oak.
- bacon_waffle 6y agoPine is one of the most common firewoods here. I tend to go for gum, which is also an introduced species. And, yes that's often felled to be used only as firewood. I should point out that there are plenty pine species that aren't considered invasive pests like wilding pines are; for example one of our bigger exports is radiata pine.