[TheForge] eucalyptus charcoal

[Erik Gutfeldt]

On Aug 18, 2005, at 1:32 PM, mrscherm at aol.com wrote:

> but the charcoal making process emits far more carbon dioxide than  
> the trees can consume


Nope, cannot be true.

Believe it or not the carbon contained in any plant matter, including  
eucalyptus trees, came from CO2. So, any carbon in the form of CO2  
released from tree material cannot be more than the CO2 used by the  
tree during it's growth. Plants don't have any source of the element  
carbon other than from CO2.

But the conversion back to CO2 is not 100% efficient. Also, not 100%  
of the tree material is used. Some carbon remains in the roots,  
leaves and bark. These will only re-release their carbon as they decay.

Do eucalyptus trees grow well in northern Brazil? I recall a failed  
'ecological' paper making venture in Brazil. They couldn't get trees  
to grow in the cleared rain forrest land. It's really really poor soil.

Erik