Benefits of planting trees
The planting of trees has many benefits. The benefits of planting trees are amongst others:
Disconnecting C and O atoms
The only target of the Kyoto Protocol, which is to delay CO2 emissions instead of ending CO2 pollution for 100%, will be accomplished, especially and faster with the Treesolution
Trees unbind the C atom from the O atoms and rebind them into other materials or other manifestations: wood, fruit, medicine, rubber, pharmaceutical products and a number of other interesting products. Besides that, trees do not only store CO2 but they also have many other benefits for the climate. There is no argument against planting trees, so this could mean an acceptable solution for all parties.
Suppose we store CO2 deep below the surface of the earth and the unimaginable happens: the CO2 escapes. Then we are dealing with a catastrophe. We have not unbound the CO2 and it pollutes the atmosphere anyway. More to the point, the money spent putting the CO2 down there has been squandered. Any solution that does not unbind CO2 molecules 100% does not offer 100% safety. In fact, we are storing the problem instead of storing C atoms in other manifestations. Trees unbind the C atom from the O atoms and are therefore 100% safe. We can solve the CO2 problem by planting trees within 40 years for less than 14 Euros per barrel of oil, using a solution that makes money instead of costs money.
By placing a price on reducing CO2 pollution to 0% by means of the Treesolution, everyone will calculate the costs of this process. If investing in greater efficiency is less expensive than planting trees, people will choose the most profitable solution = higher efficiency = delay of CO2 emission and longer consumption period of fossil fuels.
Every investment requires a payback period. Imagine that around 2050 the fuels that cause CO2 emissions are nearing their end. Who in their right mind will spend the last 25 years before then, investing in highly expensive CO2 purification or storage techniques? If the period in which an investment can be earned back is too short, certainly no one will invest. Who is going to pay for the solutions when we are not certain how long we will need these expensive solutions that might or might not prove to be useful?
This solution is in harmony with nature. It doesn't matter whether or not the climate change is caused by CO2 emission, deforestation or some other reason. In all cases trees are a good contribution.
Suppose eventually it turns out that climate change is not really happening or, if it is, that CO2 is not responsible for it. Then trees will have already brought us many benefits and will continue to bring many more. Every technical solution and investment becomes a waste of money if we discover that CO2 is not the cause.
Once we have the technology, we can use trees as a source of energy. In that case they become CO2 recyclers because for 40 years they were unbinding CO2 and after use in the energy process the CO2 is rebound, so we just start planting again and the cycle continues.
Every technical solution for the CO2 problem costs money. Trees not only store CO2 but trees have the benefit that they produce also the following products: food, timber, medicine, oxygen, humidity, etcetera. So trees generate money and stimulate economic growth. The Treesolution does not put an upper limit on economic growth. Besides that, trees that are planted to store CO2 produce wood. This way we don't have to cut down the last remaining jungles in Brazil, Indonesia and Borneo and destroy what is left of their wildlife.
Trees produce food
Trees that are planted to store CO2 have other benefits: they produce food. Moreover, by preventing erosion they create more land that is suitable to grow food on. In most hot countries people grow food in the shade of trees because sunshine on land without trees would dry out the soil too quickly and scorch the crops.
Trees can stimulate the economic growth
It will stimulate the economic development of poorer countries that suffer from erosion, desertification and food shortages. Trees create their own added value: land that can make money becomes more valuable and can therefore serve as collateral for loans. The trees give small farmers access to the capital market and encourage them to invest in their companies. So trees recapitalize worthless land to valuable land. Therefore they make micro credit and, on the longer term, macro credit possible because the ground they grow on becomes collateral. The investment retains its value, even if we have no more fuels because they are depleted
People who are content do not move and they commit fewer crimes if they live in small communities with good social relationships. Trees can create these economically sound circumstances and therefore also replace fences and prisons. In fact the global planting of trees is the answer to poverty.
Maintaining biodiversity and a healthy environment
If we plant two billion hectares of forest in 40 years and neutralize the 15 millions of hectares that are cut each year, we provide space for ecosystems. Scientists warn us that nowadays each hour two to five species become extinct. We can delay and perhaps even stop this with the Treesolution.
Everyone knows on a hot summer, it is always nice and cool in the woods. That is because trees take heat - energy - from the air and use it for photosynthesis. This lowers the air temperature. At night trees radiate heat back into space via infrared waves. This causes water vapor from the air to condense on the leaves which allows the tree to grow better, even in a dry climate. This phenomenon is called giving out.
Trees and their surface area can grow. If the population grows by 50% in the 21st century, the area of trees will expand along with it or even faster in case we plant more. Therefore, it is a flexible solution.
Time and urgency
We can spend hundreds of billions more on research and debates to find out whether or not there is a climate change and if it will take 1, 21 or 101 years. But eventually none will provide the answers in time, which is tomorrow. That is because only a long measuring period of a few hundred years can supply conclusive and scientifically sound data. If CO2 really is the cause of climate change, then all of the extra years we spend on research and talking are wasted. If we scale down the problem to what it actually is – pollution – then we can stop all research, debate, conferences, travels and bureaucracy and start ending pollution. But this discussion about the 'how' of the solution can again take years and cost billions. So if this continues, then in 50 years we will still only be talking. Why not stop talking altogether and start acting? We know that CO2 concentrations in the air are higher than they were 200 years ago so we do not question the fact that there is pollution. We also know that trees unbind CO2 and transform it into useful materials that generate money. So we have a visible and verifiable problem and an affordable Treesolution that can be implemented tomorrow. Trees are the only cradle-to-cradle solution for the problem that can be influenced by humanity itself.
There are no other solutions, so:
- We no longer invest money in talking about a problem
- Citizens know their taxes are spent on the solution
- Nobody has a competitive disadvantage
- All of mankind participates and benefits
- Economies are stimulated worldwide
- It is politically feasible
- It is inexpensive
- It is neutral
- It works
