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Dead trees keep surprisingly large amounts of carbon out of atmosphere

(phys.org)
91 points PaulHoule | 1 comments | 14 Apr 25 14:23 UTC | HN request time: 0.205s | source
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Calwestjobs ◴[14 Apr 25 16:02 UTC] No.43682778[source]▶
efficiency of plants - 1%

efficiency of photovoltaic - 20%

so photovoltaic is 15 times more land efficient then burning biomass. so we absolutely need trees to provide ecological functions. but in era of 5kwp PV array paying itself in 5-6 years(and still working afterwards), to heat water... its is ridiculous to cut trees and burn them to have hot water. 80% of time Canadian citizen can have 100% solar hot water (PV), less then 100% rest of the year.

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1. AngryData ◴[15 Apr 25 08:44 UTC] No.43690432[source]▶
You need to also factor in the efficiency loss of turning electricity into captured carbon, plus the emissions made mining and then manufacturing and installation and disposal. It is still pretty good, but it isn't basically free like letting trees grow, plus there are other benefits to having large mature forests.