Empress trees absorb about 103 tons of carbon a year per acre

Re:Empress trees absorb about 103 tons of carbon a year per ... by Spellman on Friday August 02, 2019 @01:50PM (#20595034)

As it turns out, the vast majority of any plant is actually Carbon! That it got from the AIR!!!! I remember when my friends' brains were blown that all trees are essentially made out of "air" that got converted to wood.

Technically it's the 2xCO_2 -> 2xO_2+2C and the Carbon that sticks around becomes the wood. (also insert Water and energy into that equation. Photosynthesis is crazy).

And yes, if it gets burned or decomposed that carbon can get released back into the air (usually as CO2) but if you instead bury it you essentially lock it into solid form. And over years and years that becomes oil!

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Re:Empress trees absorb about 103 tons of carbon a year per ... by twic on Friday August 02, 2019 @02:53PM (#20595566)

I'm really pleased to see people in this subthread being so excited about the fact that plants are made out of carbon they extract from the air.

Question, though: isn't this something you learned in school?

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