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#1881899
What we need to know now is how many trees are required to extract that CO2. :D

Oh dear, at around 1000kg in its lifetime I somehow don't think tree planting is a long term solution. Unless we plan on levelling towns to create forests. :wink:

I don't think I'll bother to calculate how many sq miles of forest would be required to maintain carbon neutral.
Last edited by Miscellaneous on Thu Nov 11, 2021 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
#1881917
Bearing in mind that I've still only had one coffee and am a bit of a dullard anyway. I used @Sooty25's link and @Rob P's links to work out that I need one tree for every 25 litres of avgas I burn but that tree will keep on removing that 25 litres worth of CO2 every year.

So, plant one tree for every 25 litres you burn this year and then fly the same number of hours every year until you die and you'll be carbon neutral.

I am, however, fairly hopeless and that could be one tree for every 2.5 litres or 250 trees for every litre.
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#1881921
My 30 hours a year accounts for 0.000000000000000000511% of human produced CO2.

I produce about a fifth of that amount just by breathing and I don't plan to give that up even though there are plenty of people who might consider that good for the planet.
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By GrahamB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1881922
johnm wrote:I'm on a winner. I produce about 120 kgs per hour, but our wood shifts around 3000 tonnes a year :-)

Full marks if you'd planted it.

But you didn't though, did you? :wink:

Anyway, this idea of one tonne per year per tree is utter gollocks.

According to this lot the average tree absorbs an average of 10 kilograms, or 22 pounds, of carbon dioxide per year for the first 20 years..
#1881941
GrahamB wrote:Anyway, this idea of one tonne per year per tree is utter gollocks.

That's my bad on mental arithmetic. :oops: :oops: My thinking was of the number of trees required to remove the CO2 of an individual's production over a month, based on a typical annual tree extraction ( I found between 10-20kg pa). In my amazement I had a brain fart on the arithmetic.

So, for John to offset each and every return to Alderney will require planting in the order of 20 trees.

All interesting stuff, but as I've said before it doesn't change my view that offsetting is merely box ticking by applying an elastoplast to a broken leg. :(
#1881954
Miscellaneous wrote:
All interesting stuff, but as I've said before it doesn't change my view that offsetting is merely box ticking by applying an elastoplast to a broken leg. :(


what if, the elastoplast is sufficient to keep enough infection out and enough blood in, for you to survive until the surgeon fixes the broken leg?

what if everyone planting 10 trees per flown hour did buy the plant a bit more time while we sort out the major producers?

However, I have a theory that re-instating catchment area schools in all our towns, so kids had to go to their local school, rather than being driven miles each day off the back of an OfSted report, would do far more for the plant than my 10 trees!
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By GrahamB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1881959
My Elastoplast is to subscribe annually to projects verified to be sequestering 25 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

My aviation activities account for about six or seven tonnes of that.
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#1881963
GrahamB wrote:
johnm wrote:I'm on a winner. I produce about 120 kgs per hour, but our wood shifts around 3000 tonnes a year :-)

Full marks if you'd planted it.

But you didn't though, did you? :wink:

Anyway, this idea of one tonne per year per tree is utter gollocks.

According to this lot the average tree absorbs an average of 10 kilograms, or 22 pounds, of carbon dioxide per year for the first 20 years..

As long as John doesn't cut his wood down he'll still be shifting 3000 tonnes a year!
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By GrahamB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1881965
malcolmfrost wrote:
GrahamB wrote:
johnm wrote:I'm on a winner. I produce about 120 kgs per hour, but our wood shifts around 3000 tonnes a year :-)

Full marks if you'd planted it.

But you didn't though, did you? :wink:

Anyway, this idea of one tonne per year per tree is utter gollocks.

According to this lot the average tree absorbs an average of 10 kilograms, or 22 pounds, of carbon dioxide per year for the first 20 years..

As long as John doesn't cut his wood down he'll still be shifting 3000 tonnes a year!

He needs to check his maths!
#1881970
@Sooty25, essentially I accept your points, however I don't read the tree planting and offsetting measures as being temporary fixes. I read them as being offered as part of the whole solution.

IMO, the reality is if we, as a species, are serious about saving the species (not the planet) then we need to stop fooling ourselves by tinkering around the edges and address the issue properly. Personally I'd start with trying to ascertain if in fact we can get the levels to where they need to be. I'm not convinced.

As a crude analogy, I see what we are doing in the UK as akin to a 30 yr old putting £20 per month in a pension and planning to retire at 55. In other words, a naively pointless exercise. :wink: