How much CO2 might a healthy Douglas Fir ("Christmas") tree absorb during its lifetime?

I do not know, but I will say thank you! That is how the “issue” of excess CO2 should be addressed.

I don’t have any idea, but I love what you are doing and I think it is really admirable :).

Ok, before I get into this I should note that these numbers will vary based on the individual trees, growth rates, site specific conditions, temperature, and other factors.

Lets assume 15 years of growth is needed to get to an age where we can make assumptions about the amount of carbon stored by Douglas fir trees. At this age, studies have shown that Douglas firs can sequester around 23lbs of carbon per year. We need to convert this estimate to pounds of CO2 removed from the atmosphere. Also, an average estimate of age of Douglas fir trees in a healthy growing environment is 500 years.

Per year:
(23lbs C) x (44 units CO2 / 12 units C) = 84.3 pounds of CO2/year

(50 trees) x (84.3 lbs CO2) = 4,216.67 pounds of CO2/50 trees/year

Over their lifetime:
(500 years) x (84.3 lbs of CO2/year) = 42,150 lbs CO2/lifetime

(50 trees) x (42,150 lbs CO2/lifetime) = 2,107,500 lbs of CO2/500 trees/lifetime

Again, this is all highly speculative and based on many assumptions, but it does give a rough estimate. Great gift idea, and good for you!

i would say jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities estimate is about the best you will get without knowing more specifics. however, i wouldn’t say 15 years of growth is needed to get to an age where assumptions can be made about carbon storage through growth. a lot of carbon is sequestered during the vigorous, young growth. assuming you skip 15 years of growth, your excluding a lot of carbon sequestration. also, i would say a 500 year old doug fir is the extreme extreme upper end of the expected life span of a doug fir. of course, this varies with location, as does anything involving nature. in a national park in california, i would say 250 years old would be a little bit more reasonable, but even that age is extreme. also, the math above assumes a constant rate of carbon sequestration over the entire lifetime of the tree, which is not going to happen. but, its still a pretty decent estimate. i would probably cut that value in half.

if you want to write a more accurate statistic in the card, you would also include the carbon dioxide that would be released by the tree as it gets older, rots, and decays. separately, what’s wrong with harvesting timber? you like having a house to live in, right? and buildings to work and recreate in? what do you think most of them are built out of? structural grade doug fir. in california, land harvested for timber must be replanted to a specified stocking standard. should we harvest the perfectly good timber we have in our own country where the harvesting is monitored and regulated, or should we import it from a country that will probably have much less strict environmental regulations? take a look at the california forest practice rules and see what goes into writing a timber harvest plan.

http://www.fire.ca.gov/resource_mgt/downloads/2009_Forest_Practice_Rules_and_Act.pdf

@dphhaas GA!. When I said that I would assume 15 years of growth is needed to make assumptions about carbon storage, I only meant that in younger trees the growth rate makes carbon storage so various that it is difficult to get an average estimate for yearly use. After 15 years or so, the rate becomes more stable, and easier to use in calculations. Of course, during all life stages trees are uptaking CO2 from the atmosphere and storing carbon.

Also, the information I found said that Douglas firs commonly grow to ages of 500 years, and in some cases (uncommonly) can grow older than 1200 years. As @LC_Beta said, these trees will be planted in an national park, so I assumed that the conditions there would be suitable for growth to 500 years. Again, I made a lot of assumptions and could easily be wrong about some of these estimates. Your recommendation to cut some of the rates in half (or at least slightly reduce them) is probably wise.

i think your assumptions and estimates were pretty reasonable. that age estimate was just hard to wrap my head around. i’ve measured the ages of lots of doug fir and i’ve never seen one anywhere near 500 years in age. but, doug fir has a huge range so in some places that might be possible. just because its in a national park doesn’t necessarily mean it will live a longer life. that’s dictated more by the site quality and the competition for resources. and since there is not much harvesting or veg control in a national park, it would be reasonable to assume that competition would be greater, making the potential life span of a tree shorter. but this is just an estimate and the people who are receiving these cards will probably have no clue one way or the other,so i’m probably taking this much further then it ever needed to go. and if luvre is any indication of quality of response i’m sure your answers are reasonable and trustworthy. i’ve seen GA elsewhere. is that an acronym for something?

@dphhaas GA = Great Answer

oh…duh.

Thank you both for your great answers, I really appreciate it.

What if I wrote something along the lines of:

“May this tree, planted in your honor, live and grow to its fullest potential (which could be 500 years, during which time it could absorb 42,150 lbs of CO2!) Happy Holidays.”

Fair?

@LC_Beta Sounds good to me. This is a really good gift idea!

Thanks :) I am happy about it. I think I’ll make it an annual tradition.