{"id":256248,"date":"2023-05-06T16:01:53","date_gmt":"2023-05-06T14:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256248"},"modified":"2023-05-06T16:05:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T14:05:23","slug":"revealed-trees-planted-to-help-achieve-net-zero-are-adding-to-scotlands-carbon-emissions-tallblokes-talkshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256248","title":{"rendered":"Revealed: Trees planted to help achieve net zero are adding to Scotland\u2019s carbon emissions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Tallbloke’s Talkshop<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 2, 2023 by oldbrew<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sitka spruce forestry in Scotland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another avoidable green fiasco in the name of climate obsession.<\/em>
\u2013 \u2013 \u2013
Millions of pounds are being spent carpeting thousands of acres of land with conifers on the basis they will lock up CO2 from the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a new report shows that many of the forests springing up around the country likely add to the risk of climate change, says the Sunday Post<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Scotland\u2019s damp climate means peatland must be drained to prepare the planting of saplings. Excess water is flushed away using networks of ditches. When the peatland is disturbed, CO2 escapes into environment, turning local rivers acidic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vast tracts of peaty soil are being dug up and drained in order to plant trees, unleashing a torrent of stored carbon [dioxide]<\/em> into the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paper \u2013 published in the \u00adjournal Land Use Policy \u2013 states: \u201cWe have been planting the wrong type of forests, in the wrong place, and using the wrong techniques. The industry promotes conifer forests as carbon positive; yet many plantations are emitting carbon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author, Castle Douglas-based silviculture \u00adconsultant Mary-Ann Smyt, warns: \u201cMost of Scotland\u2019s forestry has been (and is still being) planted on organic, peaty soils. The problem is acute in south-west Scotland, where afforested headwaters contain high levels of organic carbon and lethal spikes of acidity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we want woodlands to lock up carbon for centuries, we need to move away from draining and disturbing peaty soils to suit plantations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The John Muir Trust conservation charity backed the research\u2019s findings. Senior policy officer Rosie Simpson said: \u201cWe\u2019re not confident about the long-term carbon savings of commercial plantations on peatlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the 1980s, we saw \u00adplantations in the Flow Country (in Caithness and Sutherland) driven by tax incentives. They are now widely acknowledged as having been \u00adenvironmentally destructive and are being converted back to peatland habitats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur concern now is that we might be repeating past mistakes \u2013 except this time the driver is carbon-offsetting rather than tax-saving.\u201d
. . .
The latest report highlights research from last year that showed trees grown in 30cm of peat would be unlikely to recoup the emissions created. Meanwhile, trees grown in 20cm of peat might take 15 years to break even.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the report says the rules neither prevent further damage to existing sites caused by restocking nor properly account for emissions from ditches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It concludes: \u201cThe net effect of plantations on peaty soils is that many forests are emitting more greenhouse gases than they sequester; they are not carbon-beneficial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis paper asks that investors and policy-makers recognise the damage being done\u2026and suggests that the incentives driving these changes are corrected in order to favour a better kind of forest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Scottish Conservatives called for a review of subsidies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shadow Net Zero Secretary Liam Kerr said: \u201cThe Scottish Government routinely attempts to force through so-called environmental measures without listening to the experts, from the shambolic Deposit Return Scheme to controversial fishing bans. We cannot afford tree-planting to become another failed green objective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, an Aberdeen University study found that building wind turbines on peatland had released 4.9 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It will take some windfarms more than a decade of producing electricity to make good on the damage they have caused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full article here<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another avoidable green fiasco in the name of climate obsession.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":256254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691819363,691818076,691819362,691818088,691818154],"class_list":{"0":"post-256248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-climate-obsession","10":"tag-co2","11":"tag-green-fiasco","12":"tag-greenhouse-gases","13":"tag-net-zero","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0Scotland.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-14F2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":215854,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=215854","url_meta":{"origin":256248,"position":0},"title":"How governments and the cult of net zero wrecked the energy market \u2013 Telegraph","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"27\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The headline says it all. 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