How much CO2 does one tree consume in a year?
 

Has this been quantified? With all the talk
about carbon credits this might be good info.

Does one weigh the tree and do a mass
balance, or is one element of cubic
measurement worth so much CO2?

Peter

How much CO2 does one tree consume in a year?
 

In article , "Peter Jason" wrote:
Has this been quantified? With all the talk
about carbon credits this might be good info.

Does one weigh the tree and do a mass
balance, or is one element of cubic
measurement worth so much CO2?

G'day Peter,

Here's one paper that may help to answer your question:
quoting
Burrows, W. H., B. K. Henry, P. V. Back, M. B. Hoffmann,
L. J. Tait, E. R. Anderson, N. Menke, T. Danaher, J. O. Carter
and G. M. McKeon (2002). "Growth and carbon stock change in
eucalypt woodlands in northeast Australia: ecological and
greenhouse sink implications."
Global Change Biology 8 (8): 769-784.
/quoting

I found that one by simply googling
"woodland growth rates site:.dpi.qld.gov.au"

DPI also has a lot of other stuff on tree growth rates (but not
necessarily related specifically to carbon sink issues). You can find
a bunch of refs there by googling

"tree growth rates site:.dpi.qld.gov.au" [lot of forestry stuff]
or
"native tree growth rates site:.dpi.qld.gov.au"

I'm sure you could get similar sorts of info from other organisations
around the world doing that sort of research work.


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

How much CO2 does one tree consume in a year?
 

In article ,
"Peter Jason" writes:
|
| Has this been quantified? With all the talk
| about carbon credits this might be good info.

As Oliver Rackham is quoted as saying: "Planting trees to offset
carbon emissions is like drinking more water to offset rising
sea levels."

| Does one weigh the tree and do a mass
| balance, or is one element of cubic
| measurement worth so much CO2?

One weighs the tree, then weighs a sample, dries it, weighs it
again, and estimates the proportion of lignin, either by using
tables or by a chemical process. Then one calculates the result :-)

Water contains no carbon, cellulose and most sugars contain about
45% and lignin about 65%, if I have used the formulae correctly.
Those account for almost all of the weight of a tree.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.