{"id":424270,"date":"2026-02-02T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T09:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=424270"},"modified":"2026-02-02T10:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T09:00:32","slug":"wood-vaulting-dumbest-climate-geo-engineering-idea-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=424270","title":{"rendered":"Wood Vaulting \u2013 Dumbest Climate Geo-engineering Idea Ever?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Imagine harvesting millions, billions of tons of wood, and not even burning it, let alone using it for construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scientists Think We Could Slow Climate Change by Sinking Trees in the Arctic Ocean<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purposefully sinking boreal trees could help lock away carbon for millennia or longer, but the audacious plan comes with risks of its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0DARREN ORF<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0PUBLISHED:\u00a0JAN 28, 2026, 8:30 AM EST<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is now a forest<\/a> that is sequestering lots of carbon, but now the next thing is how to store it in a way that won\u2019t get burned,\u201d Ulf B\u00fcntgen, the lead author of the study from the University of Cambridge, told New Scientist<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the basic idea behind a well-known carbon removal<\/a> technique known as \u201cwood vaulting,\u201d which involves burying woody biomass in anaerobic (clay-rich) pits that essentially lock carbon underground. The authors note that while this method might be effective in theory, it\u2019d likely rely on a 25 percent increase in logging and could negatively impact soil quality, mycorrhizal networks, and biodiversity loss\u2014not to mention the increased emissions from deforestation, transportation, excavation, and vault construction. So, the authors looked for other, readily available anoxic environments with lower environmental impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Last year, B\u00fcntgen took part in a study<\/a> that found wood survived without rotting for 8,000 years in low-oxygen Alpine lakes, and the idea of similarly vaulting wood in the Arctic does come with a few advantages. For one, afforestation is reducing albedo. And for another, these forests can be far removed from human<\/a>-occupied spaces, but close to major river systems for easy transportation. The authors highlight the Ob, Yenisey, Lena, Yukon, and Mackenzie rivers in Russia, Alaska, and Canada as having the potential to be boreal timber waterways for vaulting logs in the Arctic Ocean. According to New Scientist<\/em>, if 30,000 square kilometers could be logged along these rivers each year and then replanted, one billion tonnes of CO2<\/sub> could be stored.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/science\/environment\/a70098782\/sinking-1-billion-trees\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The abstract of the study;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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No Long-Term Decay in \u03b1-Cellulose of Living and Relict Trees From the European Alps Over the Past 8,000 years<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tito Arosio<\/a>, Ulf B\u00fcntgen<\/a>, Matthias Saurer<\/a>, Tatiana Bebchuk<\/a>, Kurt Nicolussi<\/a>, Agata Buchwal<\/a>, Valentina Vitali<\/a>, Markus Leuenberger<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First published: 26 September 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2025PA005170Digital Object Identifier (DOI)<\/a> VIEW METRICS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tree-ring \u03b1-cellulose stable isotopes of living trees and dead woods are increasingly used for high-resolution paleoclimate reconstructions spanning centuries to millennia. However, the potential effects of wood decay on \u03b1-cellulose content (CC) and the composition of tree-ring stable isotopes remain largely unexplored. Here, we present \u03b1-cellulose content measurements from relict and living trees in the European Alps spanning the past 8,000\u00a0years. This study addresses whether preservation context alters the isotopic integrity of \u03b1-cellulose. We assess the temporal stability of CC, its dependence on tree species, preservation conditions and wood type (subfossil, dry dead, living), as well as its relationship with \u03b1-cellulose stable carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen isotopes (\u03b413<\/sup>C, \u03b418<\/sup>O, \u03b42<\/sup>H). Our results show that \u03b1-cellulose remains stable over millennia under alpine conditions. Our results not only confirm the suitability of relict wood for tree-ring stable isotopic analysis and paleoclimate reconstructions but also provide insights for the improvement of global carbon cycle models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more:\u00a0https:\/\/agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1029\/2025PA005170<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Given emissions of around 35-40 gigatons of CO2 per year, 30,000 square kilometers x 40 = 1.2 million square kilometres of boreal forest would have to be harvested each year and sunk in the Arctic ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the total area of Arctic boreal forest is only around 15-17 million square kilometers, and given boreal forests are not exactly fast growing, cancelling emissions would deplete all available boreal forest within 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrient depletion in boreal regions from all the removed wood over time would turn the former forests into true ice deserts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, once they ran out of boreal forests, I mean you can\u2019t shut down a green programme just because it wrecked the environment. They would then come for other forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a thought, instead of spending billions, maybe trillions of dollars per year chopping down the worlds\u2019s forests, then pointlessly dumping all the trees in the Arctic Ocean, how about we just let the CO2 pile up in the atmosphere so it can fertilise our crops, and help keep our planet verdant and healthy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Global Greening From Higher CO2 Hits \u201cStriking\u201d New Heights \u2013 but the Mainstream Media Won\u2019t Tell You About It<\/a><\/blockquote>