How can I be carbon negative?

Question

As I understand the term being carbon neutral means doing things that negate the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, but that won't reduce the abount already there. Therefore I would like to know if it is possible to be carbon negative (i.e doing things that actively reduces the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere).

Answer 1

Start by reducing your consumption of goods and services. Every service, every item has a Carbon rating. Energy to make it, move it provide it etc. So by using less of things you reduce the amount of carbon you are resposible for.

Best way to start is to stop using stuff you don't need. Like lighting in empty rooms, airconditioning when opening a window has the same effect, unnecessary packaging.

Then to lower it again will depend on where you live and on factors that may be beyond your control. There is not much you can do, if in your area electricity is generated by old and inefficient coal fired power stations. If you are lucky its producd by renewables so your footprint is already less.

But going negative means you need to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The easiest way an individual can do this is to grow a tree or three. But it is important that the timber from the tree is kept from rotting or being burnt. (either would return all the captured CO2 back into the atmosphere) A good way is to plant new forrest.  A truly mature forest no matter what type does not remove CO2 as by definition, a mature forest is one that is stable, it has as many trees dying as are being replaced. It is a balanced eco system. However a growing forest  is constantly adding to the amount of carbon stored within it. As it takes several hundred years for a forest to mature, startingone now means that it will help remove CO2 for quite a while. Also as long as the forest survives the CO2 stays trapped. Individual trees may die, but that doesn't matter, the forest survives. Forests are very stable eco systems.

Get together with some other people and plant a forest, or assist people who are already doing it.

Part of humans contribution to the excess CO2 in the atmosphere is our destruction of forests and their replacement with grass lands, farms etc. All that CO2 stored in the forest, gone into the atmosphere.

Timber plantations are a good CO2 trap and money spinner if the timber is used in stuff that will survive for a long time, like high quality furniture, house building frames. No use at all if it is for making paper, firewood, or rubbish furniture that gets thrown out after a few years.

I have 1.5 hectares available on which my current return is UD$0.75 pa per square metre. If you can provide the same return, I'm happy to convert it, or part of it to tree farm or forest.  I am sure though that you will be able to find cheaper land than that to convert.

As a rough guide, every tonne of timber is roughly 0.5tonne of CO2. And every tonne of green vegetation is say 0.2tonne of CO2. So if you start planting anything in areas that are currently bare, you are reducing CO2. Even if the plants you plant don't live long, as long as you create a new vegetated area that stays vegetated, it helps. Talking about making gardens on rooftops and balconies here. If they stay as gardens then the total mass of CO2 in the garden is removed from the atmosphere.

For you to stay C negative, you have to keep planting new gardens all the time ever increasing the amount of vegetative material growing.  Trees do that all by themselves.

And don't believe the nay sayers, the green house is real and Humans have a major rol to play. We are the main cause and our actions will detirmine the severity of the result

They just would prefer to not believe because if it is true they might have to adjust their selfish arrogant wasteful lifestyles.

There is no need to live with out the luxuries, you just have to look at how you do it and how you pay for it. Always being responsible for your actions. It isn't hard to do.

Answer 2

the fact is that people who try and reduce their carbon emission are wasting their time.the inevitable will happen regardless of what we do.nature will take its course.personally i dont believe man has anything to do with it.its yet another excuse to raise taxes.im certainly not worried about it.

Answer 3

It is possible, but I don't think anyone needs to worry about it. Global warming is most likely not caused by humans. It has happened in the past without our help, and this moderate warming trend is not more dramatic than the Inter-glacial periods in the past. In my opinion, global warming is just a scheme to take our money and our freedom, and guide America down the path of socialism.

Answer 4

plant a forrest perhaps....................its all a big con you know that dont you?