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June 13, 2005
CO2/ tree planting FAQ
Here is a ‘frequently asked questions’ (FAQ) for the CO2 emissions offset tree planting campaign at the Pledge Bank. I will be updating it as necessary.
1. What is your pledge?
‘I will have 10 trees planted to offset my total carbon dioxide emissions for 2005 but only if 99 other people will too.’
2. What will you do if less than 99 people sign up?
I am confident we will get 100 signatures!
3. Do I have to calculate my CO2 emissions?
It’s up to you. You can calculate your emissions and arrange for an appropriate number of trees to be planted, or you can simply donate ten trees.
4. Is it easy to calculate CO2 emissions?
Yes, you can use the online calculators at Climate Care www.climatecare.org, or Future Forests www.futureforests.com , or the National Energy Foundation (a charity) www.natenergy.org.uk/convert.htm , or you can go direct to the official government figures.
5. Do Climate Care, Future Forests and the National Energy Foundation use official government figures?
Yes, I think so.
6. Where can I find the official British government (DEFRA) figures for calculating CO2 emissions?
They are at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/envrp/gas/05.htm
7. How do I calculate home energy emissions from the DEFRA figures?
You calculate gas and electricity by adding up the KHh. (KWh appear on your utility bills.) Emissions from gas are 0.19 kg of CO2 per KWh. Emissions from electricity are 0.43 kg of CO2 per KWh.
Emissions from oil (central heating) are 2.68 kg of CO2 per litre, and emissions from coal are 2.419 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of fuel.
8. How do I calculate car emissions from the DEFRA figures?
You will need to find our your annual mileage and fuel efficiency in miles per gallon (mpg). If you travel 10,000 miles a year and your car does 30 to the gallon, you will be using 333 gallons, which is 1,514 litres. Emissions are 2.31 kg per litre, which would give a total of 3.5 tonnes of CO2. (Diesel is 2.68 kg per litre.). If this seems complicated, I recommend the calculator at Climate Care www.climatecare.org.
9. How do I calculate air flight emissions?
This is a hard one, as the National Energy Foundation admit, there are all kinds of variables involved. I used 0.18 kg per mile for a long distance flight, for shorter distances a figure of up to 0.3 kg per mile may apply. Climate Care www.climatecare.org, Future Forests www.futureforests.com , and the National Energy Foundation www.natenergy.org.uk/convert.htm all have excellent calculators!
10. How do I calculate commercial and industrial emissions for the products I buy?
We are not attempting that.
11. What is your conversion rate from CO2 to trees?
I have been working on 650 kg of CO2 being offset by one tree.
12. When you say that a tree will absorb 650kg of CO2, is that annually (when mature) or over the entire life time of the tree?
I believe the process is a long one. One of the websites talks about a 99 year time period. The CO2 you put up into the atmosphere in 2005 will be up there contributing to global warming, while the trees you plant will be down here absorbing the gas - over many years.
The scientists have different models for this. However it’s worth noting that carbon absorption for most species is particularly high during the first 15 years, when it can be as much as 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare of woodland per year.
13. Some people claim that once a tree dies all the carbon goes straight back in the air. Is this true?
A properly managed woodland will regenerate and go on living. New trees will naturally replace the old ones. When a tree dies and is left to rot, some of the carbon will be released into the air, but some will also remain in the soil.
14. Some commenters have claimed that tree planting does not offset emissions, is unsustainable etc. What do you say?
There is an ongoing debate about climate change and what to do about it. There is a great deal of material about this on the net. Tree planting is recognized by the British government (and a wide range of organizations) as a key part of the effort to keep CO2 out of the atmosphere. There are other benefits as well, for wildlife, landslide prevention and flood control etc. In Britain we have lost much of our ancient tree cover. We now have the opportunity of putting some of it back, and at the same time absorbing some of the CO2 which is still being put out by our all too active coal-fired power stations.
I should also like to quote Future Forest: “There are ‘purists’ who believe that the only way to address climate change is to reduce emissions. Future Forests agrees that reductions are critical to dealing with the issue. However, our view is that reductions AND offset are all part of the approach we should be taking. The fact is that until new technologies are commercialised, people will continue to drive cars, take flights and use energy from fossil fuel sources.” www.futureforests.com/explainmore/anyotherquestions.asp#Q21
15. Where do we buy our trees?
I recommend Trees for Life, a charity in Scotland associated with the Findhorn Association (formerly the Findhorn Foundation).
For GBP 5 per tree, Trees for Life will arrange for volunteers to plant seedlings, aged between one to two years, of Scots pine, silver birch, downy birch, aspen, alder, willow, holly, juniper, rowan and oak in Glen Moriston and Glen Affric as part of a project to restore the ancient Caledonian Forest and its wildlife, on the west side of Loch Ness. All the seedlings will be of indigenous trees propagated from cones, seeds or berries collected locally, and grown by either Trees for Life or the Forestry Commission.
The trees will be planted on land owned by the Forestry Commission Scotland, the National Trust for Scotland, the RSPB and private landowners on the basis of long-term agreements to maintain and manage the forest, in some cases under joint responsibility. More information is available on the ‘Solution to Global Warming’ page:
www.treesforlife.org.uk/tfl.global_warming.html
Donations to ‘Trees for Life’ can be made at:
www.treesforlife.org.uk/cgi-bin/multi_form.pl#carbon
The Woodland Trust also offer ten trees for GBP 50. They are a reliable organization providing long-term management for their woods. See: www.woodland-trust.org.uk
However it’s up to you to decide where the trees go. Alternatives include the schemes of Climate Care and Future Forests - and I am sure there must be many others.
16. Do you see this leading to something bigger? Can I help?
I am open to suggestions. If you think we should expand the campaign and you have skills to offer, I will be pleased to hear from you!
17. Should we start a discussion forum?
A Yahoo Group or PHP forum? I’d be happy to support a forum if there is a genuine interest.
18. Are you an expert?
No I am not. I welcome corrections.
19. Who are you anyway?
See: skakagrall.com/http://www.skakagrall.com/archives/000085aboutsimonholledge.html
Useful websites and pages:
www.forestresearch.gov.uk/website/forestresearch.nsf/ByUnique/INFD-62VF8C
Posted by Simon Holledge at June 13, 2005 08:39 PM
Comments
Are you sure that the 0.43kg/kWh of CO2 is correct - I have read in many places that the average is 1kg of CO2 per kWh for coal fired power plants.
Posted by: Adrian Brown at July 14, 2005 10:00 AM
Yes, this is the British government figure.
However other countries will have different figures. It all depends on the percentage of electricity generated from clean/dirty sources.
If a country generates a lot of electricity from coal it will be a high figure. If a country, say France, uses a lot of nuclear/renewables, then it will be much lower.
Posted by: Simon Holledge at July 14, 2005 10:05 AM
Would like to know the potential of growing forest in India, and selling the CERs to the clients in Europe/Japan. Will anyone from Europe /Japan be interested in partering with me and interested in initial funding too?
Subir
Posted by: Subir Dhar at July 19, 2005 03:29 PM
Thanks for your comment, however we are not in this as a business. I'm curious. What are CERs? Carbon . . .
Posted by: Simon Holledge at July 19, 2005 05:10 PM
Thanks for your reply.
CER - Carbon Emission Certificates. Well, I am not an expert but I am seeking answers to many of the issues on emission and how to reduce it in a manner that is beneficial to all around.
The signatory countries to the Kyoto Protocol have agreed to reduce the carbon emission to a level which is about 5% below the emission levels in the year 1990.
There are options for the firms and countries - either they reduce the emissions in their own country or help develop projects in the developing world in a manner than the carbon emissions are reduced.
While promoting international projects, they will approach a certifying authority in the host country, which will certify that the project will help in bringing down the emission by say x tons of CO2. This is in the form of certificate - Carbon Emission Reduction Certificate. So, if a firm has to reduce the emissions by x tons, they can use this certificate to meet their obligation.
Thus, there is a good opportunity for the developed countries to reduce their emissions by partnering with the developing countries and creating project opportunities to reduce carbon emissions. Some of these projects can be windmills, hydroelectric projects (with a capacity upto 15 MW), Solar projects, Agro forestry schemes, Bio Diesel plants etc.
There is opportunity for independent farmers/environmental groups to grow forests, and generate CERs, and then market these CERs in developing world (EU and Japan) at present. As I understand, each CER trades for about $5 in the global markets. So, if a proper financial planning is done, one can enter into a marketing/financial agreement, which will help in bringing down the cost of the project.
So, if I am thinking of an agro forestry scheme which will generate say 10,000 CERs, then I can earn an upfront amount of $50,000 by selling the CERs, and will help me make the project viable. Without the CERs, my project may not be viable at all.
As I see it, there is immense partnering opportunities around the world, in a manner that will bring down the poverty levels, improve employment in host countries, and at the same time improving the environment.
Look forward for further discussions on this topic.
Regards
Subir
Posted by: Subir at July 20, 2005 09:56 AM
Subir,
Thanks for all that information.
Whereabouts in India do you live? Do you know what percentage of India is covered by forests at present?
I understand that some third world schemes have been criticised by FERN. They have a pdf at:
www.fern.org/pubs/briefs/carbon%20offset.pdf
Of course this does not mean that all the schemes are bad!
Posted by: Simon Holledge at July 22, 2005 12:09 AM
does someone know if the conversion rate from co2 to trees vary with the different species of trees?
Posted by: lucile at May 29, 2006 02:12 PM
Obviously it would. Trees grow at different rates, to different sizes, so they must absorb different amounts of CO2. However I have never seen figures.
Tree-planting schemes here in Britain have concentrated on indigenous broad-leaf deciduous species (generally good for the natural environment, wildlife etc.) rather than the faster growing conifers formerly preferred by the Forestry Commission.
Posted by: Simon Holledge at May 29, 2006 03:26 PM
Can you please tell me if certain species of trees are better than others at absorbing carbon dioxide and if so could you please let me know what they are, also would it be better for tree to be planted as near to towns and cities as possible. I'm involved in property developments in rural situations and am considering planting as many trees as possible.
Thanks in anticipation
John
Posted by: John Ritchie at June 4, 2006 11:30 AM
I am not an expert on this, however trees obviously grow at different rates, to different sizes, so they must absorb different amounts of CO2 over different time periods. Some trees are probably better in the short term, others in the longer term. I have never seen published figures, though it would be possible (if perhaps tedious) to work this out, in terms of the weight/growth of different species over time.
Tree planting obviously involves much more than just CO2 absorption. It’s important for the natural environment, wildlife etc. so schemes here in Britain have tended to concentrate on indigenous broad-leaf deciduous species that are attractive and harmonize well with the environment: oak, beech, birch, chestnut etc. Trees like the oak and chestnut are long lived (‘three hundred years growing, three hundred years standing, three hundred years decaying’).
I don’t know where your developments are but regional variations are likely to be a factor in choosing trees. Perhaps local Woodland Trust can advise you? They operate throughout England, Scotland and Wales.
Posted by: Simon Holledge at July 1, 2006 01:19 PM