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 Estimate your personal share of CO 2 production
We produce carbon dioxide in huge quantities as a by-product of virtually everything we rely on to power our daily lives, from the (non-hydro) electricity we generate to the gasoline we burn. No one is exempt from this responsibility, regardless of how "clean" the lifestyle. Even a hermit holed up in a remote cabin produces almost two pounds of CO 2 for every pound of firewood, and over 20 pounds for every gallon of kerosene.
For those of us who live a more modern existence, the figures are staggering: each gallon of gasoline pumps out approximately 19 pounds of CO 2 . That adds up to five tons per year for every car you (or your family or business) operate. The average toll from the electricity supplied by public utilities is equally sobering. Every kilowatt hour yields 1.7 pounds of CO 2 . On average, each home in the US consumes 840 kWh per month (EPA, Region 1 North East), thus amounting to 5.5 tons of yearly CO 2 production. The typical small business emits two million pounds per year, or 1,000 tons. The typical school produces one million pounds, or 500 tons. And so on-the list is endless.
How can you estimate your own personal share of CO 2 output? In the near future, we will provide an interactive chart with which you will be able to input the details of your daily life and receive a reasonably specific figure. But for the time being, the following statistic will give you a ballpark idea: in the US, the per capita annual average totals 20 tons of CO 2 emissions. That's 40,000 pounds' worth of responsibility for global warming attributable each year to every man, woman, and child in America! All told, that adds up to an estimated 25 percent of humankind's entire annual output . . . quite an impact by any standard, especially considering that the US population comprises only five percent of the world's total.
Note that if you are a wage-earning adult living in an urban area, with one car, your CO 2 emissions almost certainly total far more than the national per capita average: a rough guesstimate would be between 30-45 tons per year. In addition, if you have a motorboat, which you use often, and/or you fly frequently on commercial airlines, your CO 2 "responsibility quotient" would likely rise to 40-50 tons annually.
Please see our Carbon emissions and sources for a list detailing the breakdown.
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Estimate how many trees would neutralize your CO 2 emissions
As noted above, if you are a "typical" North American working or retired adult, you are probably directly responsible for at least 30-45 tons of CO 2 emissions per year. That's the bad news. The good news is that you can do something about it.
Each hectare (~2.5 acres) worth of reforestation, which would consist of 1,000 hardwood trees, allows you to "capture and sequester" approximately 40 tons of CO 2 per year. At the end of our 25 year projected cycle, you thus would have earned credit for cumulatively locking in 1,000 tons of CO 2 per hectare.
These estimates include all the branch trimmings and tree cullings over the years -- since the majority of the lumber yielded will be sold for use as wood products, which will continue to store carbon almost indefinitely.
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Sources relied upon for data in sections 3 & 4
How did we arrive at the figures in sections III and IV, above?
They are based in part on tropical hardwood plantation growth rates using a model called the Klinki Matrix Forest. This was developed for another project (see below) by one of our consultants back in the late 1990's, Buford Briscoe, Ph.D., Agroforestry, who lived here in Costa Rica at the time. Dr. Briscoe's model assumes the planting of 1,111 klinki trees (species: Araucaria hunsteinii; family: Araucariaceae) and other hardwoods per hectare on suitable land in Costa Rica. Although our plantations do not include the klinki species, according to Dr. Briscoe the Klinki Matrix is nonetheless an accurate model for predicting average local growth rates for the tropical hardwood species we do use.
The other data we relied upon for our CO 2 absorption estimates derive from models created by Reforest the Tropics, Inc. The latter is a non-profit organization spearheaded by Dr. Herster Barres, with Dr. Briscoe also serving as chief local consultant. Reforest the Tropics is currently implementing a farm forestry venture here in Costa Rica called the Klinki Forestry Project. Its plan: to use tax deductible donations from foreign investors to fund reforestation ventures for the benefit of the local people, thereby sequestering CO 2 while also allowing small farmers to make a sustainable living as stewards of the environment.
Using the Klinki Matrix to predict growth rates, Reforest the Tropics has quantified the average CO 2 sequestration ratios which could reasonably be expected from its hardwood plantations here in Costa Rica. The procedure is straightforward: total tree weight is calculated by multiplying volume projections by the specific gravity of the wood, with CO 2 making up 48% of the corresponding dry weight.
Based on the expert advice of Dr. Briscoe, we have relied upon and adopted the carbon capturing calculations developed by Reforest the Tropics. Dr. Briscoe has reviewed our projections in this regard, and concluded that they are reasonable. Note: since the Klinki Matrix requires very good sites and management practices, Dr. Briscoe agreed to assume that we will comply on both counts in order to render his opinion.
We believe our projects can approximate the carbon capturing projections of Reforest the Tropics, for two main reasons: we use a permacultural approach, planting a wide variety of native plants, including nitrogen fixing trees, between our hardwood saplings, all of which absorb additional (extra) amounts of CO 2 not included in the Klinki Matrix; and by relying on the preceding methodology to restore the soil and promote biodiversity, we expect to meet or exceed model Costa Rican plantation growth rates.
Note: for details on how you may be able to contribute to the exemplary work being done by Reforest the Tropics, Inc., or for more information on its methodologies, including the Klinki Matrix, please email Dr. Barres .
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Links to global warming/CO 2 - related Web sites
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