I'm struggling with this one

[2scoops0406]

I'm possibly buying a new house, ok, don't laugh, the kitchen in the new house along with pretty much everything else, has to come out. Now being in the country, we've readily available "local" wood sources, so me thinking I might be a bit greener, well actually, not leaving myself open to the whims and of gas electricity and oil suppliers, thought I'd install an ESSE 4 oven woodburning cooker and 2 large woodburning stoves, with back boilers. With a backup conventional dual fuel cooker (gas / leccy).

Now I reckon I'm gonna need around 20 tonnes of seasoned hardwood a year (bulk purchase around £600), but this begs the question, everyone keeps saying that woodburning is green because the tree absorbed CO2 throughout it's life, and therefore is not a net contributor to CO2 emissions.

But most of the firewood I see is logs from either diseased or fallen trees, many of which are more than a couple of centuries and more old.

So, if I don't plant anymore trees am I not simply releasing CO2 trapped for a couple of centuries, rather than a few million years, what exactly is the difference?

I hope you can allay my concerns.

 

[tim west]

I suppose all this calculation of CO2 has to take into account what was generated in excavating the fuel, fallen trees would just need picking up , transporting and cutting so compared to heavy industrial machinery involved in extracting oil or coal its still "greener" you could always plant a tree in the woods if you feel guilty.

 

[crazycanuck]

if you have a big enough area to draw from you can cut dead and fallen
trees.
If you need to cut good wood don't cut all in a close area, this way the trees will regrow themselves.
eigtherway I would cut , split, and pile at the site to dry .
Bring to the house only what you need for the winter.
always leave a few mature trees in each area as these are the ones that
will repopulate the cut area, its better to cut big enough younger ones
for your needs.
If you are planning to cut ,invest in a good axe,chainsaw and powered
log splitter, that much labor if your not used to it will turn you off faster than anything.

 

[JohnD]

if you don't burn the fallen timber, it will rot and be eaten by insects, which will release its carbon back into the environment.

If more trees grow to replace the ones you've burned, there will be a sustainable carbon-neutral cycle

However if you permanently deforest the land, you have increased the carbon in the atmosphere and there are no trees to take it back

 

[Space cat]

Wood has been grown and harvested for centuries so there's lots of know-how available. Take a look here:

www.coppice.org.uk

 

[joe-90]

Apparently (according to the Jeremy Vine show on Radio2), the biggest contributer to greenhouse gases is animals bred for eating. If we all went veggie we would cut more CO2 than is produced by all the cars and all the planes in the entire world.

 

[daytona]

i love the environment,no way im going veggie though.where would we put all the cows?

funny as they are,there only food with legs on

 

[tim west]

In India the cattle are used to power devices such as mills and water irrigation etc. they could work for their food.

 

[daytona]

In India the cattle are used to power devices such as mills and water irrigation etc. they could work for their food.

REALLY!!!!!


i dont believe that for a second.whatever next?
i bet youll be telling me women in africa balance big jugs of water on their heads.

we dont need them for anything in this country apart from food and making me laugh when im in the countryside

 

[tim west]

Whats the problem daytona?? Calm down son! I merely suggested that the cattle could be put to good use and i think that its greener to get cattle to work rather than tractors.

 

[daytona]

actually i did meet one cow that didnt make me laugh.
he stuck his head through the door of my shelter at 3 in the morning when i was fishing an estate lake.
got woken by a very loud mmmmmmmmmmmmmoooooooooooooooooo
2 inches from my head at 3 in the morning,i didnt know what to do tbh.
when he left he trampled over a grand worth of fishing rods and turned them into splinters.
every time i have a steak i think about that night and wonder if its him

 

[breezer]

it will be a her, not him.

but its true, cows fart about a bin bag full of gas / day

 

[tim west]

they should mount bottles on their backs to collect the gas instead of letting it escape into the atmosphere

 

[daytona]

thats an idea that is.

how about a herd of cows guffing into you boiler,free heating and you could shoot a few in the summer when heating is not required for food

 

[daytona]

cows do make me laugh