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Forests Absorb One Third Our Fossil Fuel Emissions

We all know the importance of trees for aesthetics, heat reduction in our environment and for global air quality.

This study confirms the importance of forests- world wide.

August 16, 2011
Forests Absorb One Third Our Fossil Fuel Emissions

The world’s established forests remove 2.4 billion tonnes of carbon per year from the atmosphere – equivalent to one third of current annual fossil fuel emissions – according to new research published today in the journal Science.

This is the first time volumes of the greenhouse gas absorbed from the atmosphere by tropical, temperate and boreal forests have been so clearly identified.

“This is really a timely breakthrough with which we can now clearly demonstrate how forests and changes in landscape such as wildfire or forest regrowth impact the removal or release of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2),” says CSIRO co-author of the paper: A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World’s Forests, Dr Pep Canadell.

“What this research tells us is that forests play a much larger role as carbon sinks as a result of tree growth and forest expansion.”

Dr Canadell, who is also the Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project, said the international research team combined data from forest inventories, models and satellites to construct a profile of forests as major regulators of atmospheric CO2.

In addition to the large carbon sink, he said scientists now know that deforestation is responsible for emitting 2.9 billion tonnes of carbon per year – an exchange that had not been known in the past because of a lack of data. For comparison, total emissions from fossil fuels are currently above eight billion tonnes of carbon per year.

Dr Canadell said emissions from deforestation are much larger than previously thought, suggesting that the potential benefits of avoiding deforestation through the United Nations-backed Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) scheme, are much larger than previously appreciated.

The REDD scheme aims to formulate a financial value for the carbon stored in forests.

Dr Canadell said a surprising finding was the large capacity of tropical forest re-growth to remove atmospheric CO2. Regrowth takes place following the end of logging and slash-and-burn land clearing projects. and, to a lesser extent, when new forest plantations are planted.

“We estimate that tropical forest regrowth is removing an average of 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon per year. Unfortunately, some countries have not looked on forest regrowth as a component of REDD, and so are missing a very important opportunity to gain even further climate benefits from the conservation of forests.

“Combining the uptake by established and forest re-growth plus emissions from deforestation, the world’s forests have a net effect on atmospheric CO2 equivalent to the removal of 1.1 billion tonnes of carbon every year.

“Carbon exchanges from tropical forests have the highest uncertainties in this analysis and this research has required a concerted effort to refine them to our best knowledge,” Dr Canadell said.

This work has been undertaken as part of the Australian Climate Change Science Program, funded jointly by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO.

The paper was co-authored by: Yude Pan, Richard Birdsey, Jingyun Fang, Richard Houghton, Pekka Kauppi, Werner A. Kurz, Oliver L. Phillips, Anatoly Shvidenko, Simon L. Lewis, Josep G. Canadell, Philippe Ciais, Robert B. Jackson, Stephen Pacala, A David McGuire, Shilong Piao, Aapo Rautiainen, Stephen Sitc and Daniel Hayes.

SOURCE: CSIRO

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Trees Can Save Energy Bills

This is a great article on the importance of trees in our landscape.

Plant trees and cut your energy bills by 30%
Learn how to plant summer shade trees and a winter windbreak to save money on energy bills all year long.

By Arbor Day Foundation of The Daily Green

Did you know that just three trees properly placed around a house could save up to 30% of energy use? This is according to the U.S. Forest Service Center for Urban Forest Research. One study found that trees planted on the south and west sides of houses in Sacramento, Calif., reduced summertime electricity bills by an average of $25.

Trees provide many benefits to all of us, every day. They provide cooling shade, block cold winter winds, attract birds and other wildlife, purify the air, prevent soil erosion, clean our water and add grace and beauty to our homes and communities. In Chicago, the city’s 3.6 million trees reduce air pollution by about 890 tons annually, a $6.4 million benefit, according to the Forest Service. And in Portland, Ore., street trees growing in front of or near a house added an average of $8,870 to its sale price and reduced time on the market by nearly two days.

Planting the right trees in the right places conserves energy and reduces your energy bills, while helping to fight global warming.

Try these tips for getting the most energy- and money-saving benefit from the trees you plant on your property.

Plant deciduous trees on the east and west sides of your home
Deciduous trees (ones that lose their leaves), planted on the east and west sides, will keep your house cool in the summer and let the sun warm your home in the winter, reducing energy use, according to the Energy Department.

Large deciduous trees planted on the east, west and northwest sides of your home create soothing shade from the hot summer sun and reduce air-conditioning costs by up to 35%.

You use less energy.
The utility company uses less energy, especially at peak demand times.
Less fossil fuel is consumed by the utility to create the energy.
Less fossil-fuel consumption means lower carbon-dioxide emissions.

Plant deciduous trees to shade high-heat spots.
Trees or shrubs planted to shade air conditioners help cool a building more efficiently, using less electricity. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun.

Plant evergreen trees to the north and northwest of your home.
After the leaves fall, the sun pours through tree branches to warm your home in winter.

The sun travels lower on the southern horizon in winter, so you’ll want to avoid planting evergreen trees on the south side of your home, where they’ll block winter sunshine.

Instead, plant an evergreen conifer windbreak on the north and northwest of your home to block cold winter winds. That could help you save up to 30% on your heating costs. Once again …

You use less energy.
The utility company uses less energy.
Less fossil fuel is consumed by the utility to create the energy.
Less fossil-fuel consumption means less carbon dioxide emissions.

The best protection from wind occurs when the windbreak is no more than the distance of one or two tree heights from the house.

The downwind side of the trees is where the most snow accumulates, so plant your windbreak at a distance equal to one or two tree heights from your rooftop and driveway if you can.

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.