3 ms·
You mean trees?
by pokstad 5y ago
You mean trees?
- boplicity 5y agoTree aren't great for carbon capture. They take up land space, which then has to be reserved for those trees. Then, they eventually die, and decompose, which means a new tree has to grow to re-capture the carbon that is released when the tree decomposes. Better to put the excess carbon back underground, where it came from.
- haimez 5y agoThe term is “sequestration”. You are correct that trees are a temporary capture, and even then- only when you plant woodlands that did not previously exist. Given enough time, the trees that are planted will decompose or burn in a forest fire to become net neutral. Trees buy time, but they aren’t a clean up plan.
- sdenton4 5y agoTrees decomposing and being consumed by other trees is literally how it's worked for untold millions of years, so doesn't seem like a problem to me ... Forests also provide local cooling, improve the water cycle, and aid biodiversity. A world with forests is a healthier world.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- adrianN 5y agoTrees dying and not decomposing is how we got all that coal that we're now turning back to CO2.
- cmrdporcupine 5y agoIt's also how we got all the carbon in our top soils. A 6 inch or more covering of carbon (mixed with minerals etc) covering huge parts of the earth's surface. Planting trees, harvesting them, and turning them by pyrolysis into biochar/charcoal and then burying it can partially restore these soils and sequester carbon at the same time.
- adrianN 5y agoYep, but it is a nontrivial amount of work to produce approximately as much biochar as we have burnt coal.
- cmrdporcupine 5y agoOh, absolutely. It would take generations. But taking forestry waste and turning it into a soil amendment is a worthwhile endeavour even from the POV of improving food production.
- smileysteve 5y agoAlso, as we're seeing in the US west or Siberian forests; they cascade co2 release quickly with forest fires.
- smileysteve 5y agoA recent thought on carbon credit scheme with trees. If you grow a tree and build a house with it, then that carbon is captured until the house burns down.