Jan

4

2008
 
 

RIP trees



Can burying wood take carbon out of circulation for good?

a hollowed out plan?A study published this week in Carbon Balance and Management offers a low cost, low-tech way to sequester atmospheric carbon. Literally cutting the dead wood out of forests, then burying it, has the potential to store away several gigatonnes of carbon each year, according to Ning Zeng’s analysis. The University of Maryland atmospheric scientist argues that the simple proposal is a cheaper alternative to the technically demanding task of capturing carbon as it is released at power stations. Such “graveyards for dead trees” are an enticing idea but there are major obstacles to consider. What will all that extra logging activity to do biodiversity? How will nutrient recycling be affected? Will the roads needed to reach into the forest allow access to illegal loggers? Maybe it’s too good to be true, but wouldn’t it be great if it worked? Source: Zeng N (2008) Carbon sequestration via wood burial. Carbon Balance and Management DOI: 10.1186/1750-0680-3-1

Image © Christina Deridder

Filed Under Climate change, Habitat, Restoration, Economics and conservation, Community-based conservation, Socio-political issues, Tools and technology | 

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Comments

2 Responses to “RIP trees”

  1. d hennick on January 6th, 2008 8:26 am

    Lets give it a name
    I say Global Carbon March
    Inter our exhaust

    I don’t see any mention on your web site of Pyrolysis or Agrichar . Do you have projects in the planning stage on the carbon sequestration front?

    The more you learn about this ancient technique of soil restoration the more you’ll see how elegant this solution can be for carbon sequestration, for us all.
    Imagine putting the carbon tax funds into the hands of millions of peasant farmers all around the world, building their soil and their net worth at the same time. Please search “AGRICHAR” “BIOCHAR” or
    “TERRA PRETA”

  2. EcoProfessor on January 9th, 2008 6:36 am

    There shouldn’t be any doubt that this is a terrible idea for biodiversity and shame on JWO for falling for this ill-conceived “fix” for a second. Dead wood and snags are essential habitat for insects, fungi, birds, mammals, etc.. Conservationists ought to reject this idea immediately. Just because something is possible doesn’t mean it is worthwhile. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees!

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