Does anyone know which plant absorbs the most C02 ?

Question

It's problably a tree with big leafs but I find it important to know because that sort of trees will need to be planted a lot in the next years :P

Answer 1

Trees store the greatest amount of CO2.

The tallest trees are the Californian Giant Red Woods. The largest species by volume is the Giant Sequoia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoiadend...

These trees though are only found in Northern California. For storing CO2 the rainforests are far more important than these large trees as they cover such a vast area.

However, do not confuse CO2 absorption with CO2 storage, Rainforests and woodland are good CO2 sinks as the trees contain large carbon stores in their trunks etc but once a rainforest or woodland is mature it does not take up much CO2, as trees must die (and then rot, releasing CO2) to make way for new trees to grow, so the net usage of CO2 is negligable. Most grasses are C4 plants which are much better adapted to capture CO2 and convert it to useable carbon compounds than C3 plants (rainforest plants are C3 plants), in this respect grasses are better at ABSORBING CO2, in the same time period and area. A grassland is not good at storing it, as stated above, seasonally grasses tend to die releasing their CO2 back into the atmosphere, so I believe the correct answer is grass.

Grass is more efficient at using light to fix CO2 because it uses C4 photosynthesis so as a result be absorbing more CO2, it's as simple as that.

However if you are starting from an empty field then you'd want something fast growing and tall to absorb co2 quickly. Leyland Cyprus (Leylandi) or Dawn Redwood are the fast growing trees and will reach 70-100 ft in 10 years. As a carbon sink Dawn Redwood would store more CO2, especially as it is decidious and would generate new foliage every year.

Answer 2

Red woods