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St. Louis, MO (WiredPRNews.com). Carbon credits and carbon markets are becoming an increasingly critical component of both national and international efforts to mitigate growth in worldwide concentrations of greenhouse gases. These credits are designed to use market and financial incentives in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. As deforestation accounts for one fifth of the world’s CHG emissions, Western and developed countries are proposing payment incentives to farmers to keep green forests intact by purchasing carbon credits.
In recent years, estimates for deforestation and forest degradation were shown to account for 20-25% of greenhouse gas emissions, higher than the transportation sector. Furthermore, logging, farming, mining and burning account for one fifth of all carbon dioxide emissions on earth. Environmentalists are making the case that it is highly essential to launch international programs to rescue forests and stop the increasing degradation of the environment.
The concept of carbon credits enables industries that are not able to meet the set standard for carbon emissions to purchase credits. Part of the resulting cash will be paid to the owner of a forest land to keep them from cutting trees, helping to keep a balance for the environment.
According to environmental estimates, a tree should be left to stand for at least 25 years before being cut down to gain the benefits completely. The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by different trees varies. For instance, a 25 year old maple tree absorbs an average of 1.1 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year, totaling up to 27.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide in its lifetime. On the contrary, a 25 year old pine tree absorbs around 6.82 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year, totaling up to 170.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide in its lifetime. Therefore, thirty-six 25 year old maple trees are needed to absorb a ton of carbon dioxide while only six 25 year old pine trees are needed to absorb a tonne of carbon dioxide.