Compared with capturing the CO2 released by burning bioenergy crops, planting forests will lock away more carbon while also causing much less water stress and pollution
A reforestation project in Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Jeff Swensen for The Washington Post via Getty Images
In the US, nearly twice as much carbon dioxide could be removed from the atmosphere by 2100 through planting forests than through growing bioenergy crops and capturing the CO2 emitted when the crops are burned. What’s more, growing forests would lead to fewer water shortages and less water pollution, according to a modelling study.
Many scenarios for limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C that are used in climate models assume that vast amounts of carbon can be removed from the atmosphere by growing …