March 12 – Arbor Day in China

nPostednon March 12, 2016

n
n

nChinancelebrates trees and forests on the anniversary of national hero Dr.nSun Yat Sen, who urged his nation to foster a lumber industry…

n…and tonreplant forests so that the industry would always be strong.

n
n

nArbornDay originally started in the United States, in Nebraska, in 1872. Itnhas caught on all over the world, although Taiwan (the Republic ofnChina) didn’t start celebrating Arbor Day until 1927, and mainlandnChina (the People’s Republic of China) waited until 1981 to beginncelebrating the day.

n
n

ThenChinese government urged every citizen capable of doing physicalnlabor to plant at least two or three trees each and every year.nCreating a holiday during which people can fulfill this obligationnwas a really good idea. Most Chinese citizens plant trees in theirnown home gardens or by roadsides. Some people join in with non-profitnorganizations that do massive tree planting programs. n

n
n

nChinanhas really struggled with air pollution, as these photos show:

n
n

When I meet neighbors who came to California from China,
I often see them wearing face masks as is so commonly seen
in photos of Chia…even though we have little visible smog
where I live!

nTrees are able to createnbetter air quality by:

n
n

nReducingn the temperature – Shady trees keep our cities cooler, and coolern temperatures help prevent inversion layers that keep smog in place.n Buildings that stay cooler in the summer don’t need to use as muchn energy for air conditioning – another “win” for then environment. Also, some pollutants depend on warmer environments.

n

n

n

nRemovingn air pollutants by absorbing them through the tiny pores on a leaf’sn surface, or, sometimes, by trapping particles on the rough surfacen of the tree’s bark. Unfortunately, this air-pollution-absorption isn only a temporary solution, since many of the pollutants will ben released back into the environment as the bark or tree burns, dies,n or is attacked by beetles or other pests.

n

nActually,n trees can increase air pollution in complex ways, by releasingn Volatile Organic Compounds such as isoprene. But VOC emissionsn depend on temperatures, and as we said, trees tend to lowern temperatures, so having more tree cover usually lowers overall VOCn emissions. Also, different species vary in how much VOCs they emit.

n

A hybrid tree called the MegaFlora is being touted as a solution tonsome of the complexities above. This hybrid can be grown in thenworst, most depleted and even polluted soil. This tree takes onlynabout one-eighth of the water that it takes to grown corn, and yet itngrows really, really quickly – about 60 feet in just three years.nWhile it is growing, the MegaFlora tree helps clean air, soil, andnwater. Most impressive of all is that it can assist in the productionnof natural gas! n

nMegaFlorantrees can be “gasified” – burned up in a super-hot chamber thatnhas no oxygen. This no-oxygen incineration changes the tree to a gasncalled syngas, which in turn is converted into a liquidnbiofuel.

nAnd,nget this – 99% of the MegaFlora tree is converted to energy! Thenone percent residue that is left behind is either sand or glass sand.nBecause it is gasified in a closed chamber, the pollutants that thentree has absorbed all through its life are burned up, too, rathernthan released back into the atmosphere. And I presume (but couldn’tnconfirm) that the tree was specially bred not to churn out too manynVOCs.

n
n

nSo,nChina has a huge air pollution problem. And MegaFlora trees can helpnprovide energy while cleaning up air pollution. I read that China isnjumping onto the MegaFlora bandwagon, having ordered more than twonbillion of these special hybrid trees!

n
n

nBetternget planting!

n
n