03-08-2008, 05:50 AM
Good Morning April,
A tree doesn't wash CO2, it makes it into wood, so the answer, unfortunately, is very little. And, unfortunately, as the carbon pumpdown is simply a function of growth rate, neither do many of the native Hawaiian trees, as they're just too slow growing. Koa is probably the big exception, and I plant two trees a month on my place, but the root-knot problem is growing for uncertain reasons and I've got no idea if they'll survive. So far, they grow great guns, and easy to start from seed. But even if they die, the impact of the Koa on the soil is fine enough, although I hate the stink of that symbiotic fungus.
I'm surprised no one has jumped to hold my feet to the fire yet, and someone should, so I'll do it myself in the spirit of not being a hypocrite. Where do you get off, Jay, telling people not to cut trees when you work primarily in wood? Huh? Well, that's a fair question, and I think the answer is illustrative, and I really should feel compelled to answer it. And I will.
First, I DON'T believe it's a crime to cut a tree. My Stihl MS260 is one of my favorite tools. I do, however, believe it's a crime to use any resource without due respect for the cost of it. For example, I'd say if you're going to cut a rare tree a 1000 years old, you'd better feel compelled to use it in the most careful manner possible, as it's more valuable than gold, and you'd better build the finest furniture out of it, in such a manner that it lasts a 1000 years. And that standard isn't impossible, and examples exist. But, far too often trees of that nature are cut just to make crap, pure crap that won't go ten years before a new interiour designer comes along and throws it in the trash.
And I'm trimming my house with dead standing ohia and strawberry guava. And very beautiful it is. There is no waste wood anymore. But, odd bits and irregular pieces take a much higher level of attention and craftsmanship to work with, and the average builder just wants to buy boards and pin-nail it all up. And rightly so, as it took me all day yesterday to mill up a dead ohia log into a 4/4 by 8" x 8' backsplash for my kitchen, and a yurtbuilder rates(sorry, couldn't resist) that's a 500 dollar piece of wood. Stunning it is, but I can buy the same sort of thing in "dead forest dejour" from the orient for 50 dollars.
So the problem I face, as none of this is theoretical to me at all, is this. I just built myself a very modest house. The softwood lumber in the structure is at this point more or less grown on private land in the Pacific Northwest any more, because on public land it's all cut down. Still, I want to in a real and meaningful manner make up for the loss of those trees I'm responsible for by planting them here on my property. I don't want this to be a break even proposition either, I want the world to be a BETTER place for the waste I make, not just as it is. As well, I heat with wood, I run my hot water heater off of wood, and I may cook with wood. The alternative is some sort of oil, and sure I use gasoline, but the goal is to ween myself off as fast as possible. Using electricity is no good, solar won't generate near the level of power to provide these tasks even with a 30000 investment in the array, but I can grow trees and wipe the slate clean. But what trees? Koa for firewood? Really? It's the only thing native that has the growth rate even close(and it isn't close). If I figure that the cabin lasts 100 years, I need to produce a level of 500 or so 2x6 x 8' pieces of lumber plus 5 kg of firewood a day to make this a real, meaningful break even proposition. Elsewise I'm just pretending--and the fact is, on three acres, if I intermix eucalyptus, I can pull it off. Otherwise, I can't see it pan out.
If anyone has a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it, but I haven't yet met anyone who's trying near this hard. I'm sure there is, but that's the point of the conversation, to shake these people out. And again, why I wince when I hear well meaning biologists talking about riding around in helicopters surveying the expanse of invasive species in Hawaii. That 2 hour joyride cost the planet 10000 lbs of CO2, and we need some very very fast growing plants to suck all that up.
Anyway, thanks to any suggestions. As well, I'm well aware that I'm kind of a boorish hardcase by nature, and please believe I try to be sensitive to stepping on toes. I just want real answers, and in a timely manner. Sometimes you've got to squeeze hard to get the juice.
A tree doesn't wash CO2, it makes it into wood, so the answer, unfortunately, is very little. And, unfortunately, as the carbon pumpdown is simply a function of growth rate, neither do many of the native Hawaiian trees, as they're just too slow growing. Koa is probably the big exception, and I plant two trees a month on my place, but the root-knot problem is growing for uncertain reasons and I've got no idea if they'll survive. So far, they grow great guns, and easy to start from seed. But even if they die, the impact of the Koa on the soil is fine enough, although I hate the stink of that symbiotic fungus.
I'm surprised no one has jumped to hold my feet to the fire yet, and someone should, so I'll do it myself in the spirit of not being a hypocrite. Where do you get off, Jay, telling people not to cut trees when you work primarily in wood? Huh? Well, that's a fair question, and I think the answer is illustrative, and I really should feel compelled to answer it. And I will.
First, I DON'T believe it's a crime to cut a tree. My Stihl MS260 is one of my favorite tools. I do, however, believe it's a crime to use any resource without due respect for the cost of it. For example, I'd say if you're going to cut a rare tree a 1000 years old, you'd better feel compelled to use it in the most careful manner possible, as it's more valuable than gold, and you'd better build the finest furniture out of it, in such a manner that it lasts a 1000 years. And that standard isn't impossible, and examples exist. But, far too often trees of that nature are cut just to make crap, pure crap that won't go ten years before a new interiour designer comes along and throws it in the trash.
And I'm trimming my house with dead standing ohia and strawberry guava. And very beautiful it is. There is no waste wood anymore. But, odd bits and irregular pieces take a much higher level of attention and craftsmanship to work with, and the average builder just wants to buy boards and pin-nail it all up. And rightly so, as it took me all day yesterday to mill up a dead ohia log into a 4/4 by 8" x 8' backsplash for my kitchen, and a yurtbuilder rates(sorry, couldn't resist) that's a 500 dollar piece of wood. Stunning it is, but I can buy the same sort of thing in "dead forest dejour" from the orient for 50 dollars.
So the problem I face, as none of this is theoretical to me at all, is this. I just built myself a very modest house. The softwood lumber in the structure is at this point more or less grown on private land in the Pacific Northwest any more, because on public land it's all cut down. Still, I want to in a real and meaningful manner make up for the loss of those trees I'm responsible for by planting them here on my property. I don't want this to be a break even proposition either, I want the world to be a BETTER place for the waste I make, not just as it is. As well, I heat with wood, I run my hot water heater off of wood, and I may cook with wood. The alternative is some sort of oil, and sure I use gasoline, but the goal is to ween myself off as fast as possible. Using electricity is no good, solar won't generate near the level of power to provide these tasks even with a 30000 investment in the array, but I can grow trees and wipe the slate clean. But what trees? Koa for firewood? Really? It's the only thing native that has the growth rate even close(and it isn't close). If I figure that the cabin lasts 100 years, I need to produce a level of 500 or so 2x6 x 8' pieces of lumber plus 5 kg of firewood a day to make this a real, meaningful break even proposition. Elsewise I'm just pretending--and the fact is, on three acres, if I intermix eucalyptus, I can pull it off. Otherwise, I can't see it pan out.
If anyone has a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it, but I haven't yet met anyone who's trying near this hard. I'm sure there is, but that's the point of the conversation, to shake these people out. And again, why I wince when I hear well meaning biologists talking about riding around in helicopters surveying the expanse of invasive species in Hawaii. That 2 hour joyride cost the planet 10000 lbs of CO2, and we need some very very fast growing plants to suck all that up.
Anyway, thanks to any suggestions. As well, I'm well aware that I'm kind of a boorish hardcase by nature, and please believe I try to be sensitive to stepping on toes. I just want real answers, and in a timely manner. Sometimes you've got to squeeze hard to get the juice.