Trees don't work in carbon offset scams

Sunday Telegraph:

As millions of Britons jet off to foreign climes for their holiday this month, the more environmentally minded travellers will have salved their consciences by paying for trees to be planted to compensate for the carbon emissions caused by their flight.

But a ground-breaking study has now called into question the effectiveness of using trees to "offset" emissions, suggesting that their ability to "lock-up" carbon dioxide has been greatly exaggerated.

Forests have long been seen as an effective way of absorbing the greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, which are thought to trap the sun's heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming.

Celebrities, including the Rolling Stones and Leonardo DiCaprio, the film actor, have signed up to schemes to plant trees to offset their own emissions.

However, the new research found that trees bathed in extra carbon dioxide grew more tissue, but did not necessarily store significant extra quantities of carbon. Instead, the tree's capacity to absorb the gas depended on water and nutrient levels.

The news will come as a blow to the carbon-offsetting industry, which has expanded rapidly as individuals and companies try to atone for their carbon dioxide emissions by paying companies to plant trees for them.

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According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Britons spent £60 million on such schemes last year. This is forecast to grow to £250 million annually by 2009.

The latest findings come from an ongoing study - known as the Free Air Carbon Enrichment project - which has been running for 13 years at Duke University, North Carolina, in the US.

Researchers bathed plots of pine trees in extra carbon dioxide every day for 10 years and found that while the trees grew more tissue, only those that received the most water and nutrients stored enough carbon dioxide to offset the effects of global warming.

Ram Oren, the ecologist who led the project, said the research suggested that planting more trees would not be successful in slowing the pace of climate change. "More trees don't necessarily mean less carbon dioxide," he said. "Planting trees is not going to do a whole lot to decreasing carbon concentration.

"What we're finding is that extra carbon very quickly goes back into the atmosphere if there are low nutrients and water available.

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The story did not mention AlGore and his offset scheme, but apparently it takes more than just planting trees. Enterprise car rental company has recently been promising to plant a tree for every car rented. I wonder if they have a deal with Georgia-Pacific?

Anyway, I predict that the scientific consensus on this issue may fluctuate depending on the grant money from big Globo Warming R Us. Big Oil will not have to waste any investments in this one.

If the forest product companies have been cashing in on the desire of globo warmers to plant trees, they need to have their lawyers working on some kind of document disclaiming any assertions that the trees will actually offset someones carbon usage.