Empress tree, the carbon gobbler

in #ecology5 years ago

empress-tree-bloom-400x300.jpg
Image: Gardening Know How

Apparently, even if we are to believe that CO2 in the atmosphere is a problem, apparently a solution is on hand already. It is called empress tree, a species of tree native to Southeast Asia and present in many other parts of the world as an invasive species. Enough of these trees could remove pretty much as much carbon from the air as we need.

So what is special about this tree? It is not only one of the fastest growing plants - up to 15 ft (4.5 m) in the first year - they are also incredible consumers of carbon. While an acre of most trees can absorb between 1.1 and 9 tons of carbon a year, an acre of empress trees can absorb 103 metric tons.

Empress tree is also easy to grow and quite resilient which explains its success as an invasive species. So it may be an easy solution to excess atmospheric carbon, should that become an issue.

Additional reading

We Already Have the World’s Most Efficient Carbon Capture Technology
Emily Chasan, Bloomberg, 2 August 2019

Royal Empress Tree: World’s Fastest Growing Shade Tree
Sandra O'Hare, Gardening Know How, 30 April 2019

10 Carbon-Storing Trees and How to Plant Them
Robin Jacobs, EarthEasy, 29 January 2014

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Interesting post, thanks for the info :)

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climate-change happened for millions of years, some periods in the past had a higher content of carbondioxide CO_2 and all worked fine. If anyone wants to plant this tree, one should follow several rules:

  • 11 levels of plants at different hight.
  • 40 or more different plants/trees/bushes which can
    live and grow together harmoniously.
    A good example are the videos of theparenttreefarm.de , Andreas Pfeifer , who does this since 2007 .

Wow, thanks, that's quite a detailed piece of advice:)
Where does the notion of 11 levels come from?

to replant the rainforest, there are above mentioned rules.
Big trees cast shadow partially on medium trees, ... take your time and read his website and watch his videos, many in german language.
He followed natures advice, his forest-garden is in Paraguay.

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