Teak absorbs max CO2 from air
Teak has the highest capacity for carbon sequestration among trees in India. This is the finding of a study conducted by the Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) to prepare a hierarchy of local trees in India that can reduce the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere.
Key findings:
- In its lifetime, a teak tree with a girth of 10-30 cm can absorb 3.70 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Teak’s common name in India is sagwaan while its botanical name is Tectona Grandis.
- It is followed by Neelgiri tree which absorbs 2.46 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide and the Neem tree with a carbon sequestration capacity of 1.45 lakh tonnes in its lifetime.
Significance of these findings:
GEER has sent a list of trees with high capacity for carbon sequestration to different state forest departments that can choose them for plantation in areas where CO2 emission is high. In any tree plantation pro any tree plantation programme, the choice of species is crucial to the total amount of carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere.
The study will help researchers and different state forest departments to calculate the carbon sequestration potential of the trees they have. It will also help different forest departments go in for plantation of trees with high capacity for absorbing carbon dioxide from the air where CO2 emission is high.
Why CO2?
Carbon dioxide traps heat and is the main villain insofar as global warming is concerned.
What is carbon sequestration?
Carbon sequestration is the process by which carbon dioxide is captured from the atmosphere by trees for long-term storage.
