[TheForge] eucalyptus charcoal OT

[Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer]

Erik:
Such pulp tree farms have been using the local native Monterey 
pines which do fine in thin acid soils like that,,pure clay 
doesn't discourage them and , like eucalyptus, they're fast growers.
I suspect that the whole Global warming thing is motivating a lot 
of folks to do the right thing for the wrong reason.....Pete F

Erik Gutfeldt wrote:
> 
> 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
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