Trees to help meet carbon targets - 27/11/09

Researchers have said Britain could meet its emissions reduction targets if enough trees are planted to cover a further 4% of the country in woodland by 2050.

Woodland cover would extend to a total of 16% of the country's land area if around 23,000 hectares are planted with trees each year, converting the use of just 4% of the UK's land.

This would make a "significant and cost-effective contribution" to meeting emissions targets, which require Britain to cut its greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050, according to the panel of scientists, led by Professor Sir David Read.

As much as a tenth of the country's predicted emissions could be locked through forestry, which can also be used for construction and fuel purposes.

An extra 10 million tonnes of carbon can be potentially stored in wood products in new and refurbished homes by 2019, while fossil fuels can be replaced with sustainably produced woodfuel which would save around seven million tonnes of CO2 annually within the next five years.

But as trees mature, their carbon storage capacity decreases, so tripling afforestation on current levels could help reverse those trends, the Forestry Commission report suggested.

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