Are there any chemists or biologists out there ?

Question

How many trees should I plant per year to compensate the carbon dioxide output from my car. Assume that I drive 15,000 miles per year and I get 20 miles per gallon.

Answer 1

A gallon of fuel produces about 20 pounds of CO2, a little under for gasoline and a little over for diesel.

Absorption rates for trees vary depending on how quickly the trees grow and where they are, some types grow faster than others and they grow faster in hot, humid climates. As a rough guide a tree will absorb about 30 pounds of CO2 a year, more in the tropics, less in temperate zones.

A few quick sums: 15,000 miles at 20mpg = 750 gallons = 15,000 pounds of CO2 divided 30 pounds per tree = 500 trees per annum... a lot of trees. Probably need about 300 of planted in the tropics.

You can carbon offset through various organisations including Trees for the Future, they plant the trees for you and only plant in tropical regions (outside the tropics tree planting can be detrimental as the tree simply stores all the carbon it absorbs then releases it back when it dies and decomposes, it also absorbs heat from the sun which can counter any benefit of absorbing carbon).

http://treesftf.org/main.htm

Answer 2

18 trees to the half acre.