- Title: British forest pumped full of CO2 to test tree absorption
- Date: 21st June 2017
- Summary: STAFFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, UK (RECENT – MAY 11, 2017) (REUTERS) CLOSE OF TREE LEAVES WITH ARRAY MAST IN BACKGROUND WIDE OF ARRAY / TILT DOWN TO BASE OF ARRAY WITH PIPE PUMPING OUT CO2 CLOSE OF HOLE IN PIPE ON ARRAY PUMPING OUT CO2 PAN ALONG METAL PIPE TO FOLLOW PATH OF CO2 CLOSE OF HOLE IN PIPE PUMPING OUT CO2 TILT DOWN OF ARRAY TO MICHAEL TAUSZ, PROFESSOR OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AT UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM AND CO-DIRECTOR FOR BIFoR (BIRMINGHAM INSTITUTE OF FOREST RESEARCH) CLOSE OF TAUSZ WITH COLLEAGUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL TAUSZ, PROFESSOR OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AT UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, SAYING: "We're standing in an experimental forest that was set up over the last years where there are massive installations like you can see behind me that are designed to actually pump CO2 into the canopy of a mature forest ecosystem. And we have six such arrays; three that will pump CO2 and three that are so-called controls, that means they leave the forest undisturbed except for all the building work." CLOSE OF ARRAY MAST SEEN THROUGH CANOPY WIDE OF ARRAY / TILT DOWN TO LARGE STEEL PIPES ON FOREST FLOOR CLOSE OF SIGN READING: "DANGER, DO NOT CLIMB MAST UNLESS AUTHORISED" / PAN TO ARRAY PAN OF LARGE STEEL PIPES HAT TRANSPORT CO2 AROUND ARRAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL TAUSZ, PROFESSOR OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AT UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, SAYING: "The forest here sees about 40 percent more CO2 than it sees normally, because that's what it will be globally in about 2050; a value of 550 parts-per-million atmosphere, compared to 400 parts-per-million now." PAN OF FOREST CANOPY VIEWED FROM THE GROUND VARIOUS OF MOSS-COVERED TREE CLOSE OF INSECT ON PART OF ARRAY / ZOOM OUT TO WIDE SCIENTIST USING ROPE AND PULLEY SYSTEM TO CLIMB INTO TREE CANOPY SCIENTIST IN TREE CANOPY CUTTING LEAF SAMPLES VIEW FROM TREE CANOPY OF ARRAY MORE OF SCIENTIST GATHERING LEAF SAMPLES VARIOUS OF SCIENTIST PUTTING LEAF SAMPLES IN PLASTIC BAG CLOSE OF LEAVES TAUSZ AND COLLEAGUE LOOKING INTO FOREST CANOPY (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL TAUSZ, PROFESSOR OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AT UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, SAYING: "CO2 keeps creeping up in the atmosphere because human activities release more CO2 into the atmosphere. So we are already much higher than we were before the industrial revolution. Until now we were sort of a little bit lucky that forests sucked up some of that additional CO2. According to estimates between 20 and 30 percent of the additional CO2 released by human activities went back into forest ecosystems. What we don't know, however, is first of all how forests did that and why, where that CO2 goes exactly, and how long forests could keep doing that." TAUSZ AND COLLEAGUE CLOSE OF TAUSZ HOLDING LEAF (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL TAUSZ, PROFESSOR OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AT UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, SAYING: "They happily take a bit more CO2 because that's their main nutrient. But we don't know how much more and whether they can do that indefinitely. We especially don't know that with a big complete forest ecosystem like this one." PAN OF STEEL PIPE THAT TRANSPORTS CO2 VARIOUS OF PIPES THAT TRANSPORTS CO2 WIDE OF CO2 STORAGE TANKS ON OUTSKIRTS OF FOREST LAB VARIOUS OF CO2 STORAGE TANKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL TAUSZ, PROFESSOR OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AT UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, SAYING: "And we could get a clear idea of whether they can keep helping us into the future by sucking up more CO2, or we can also estimate how they might get into imbalances and what would happen to the normally well-functioning ecosystem cycles in a forest ecosystem." TAUSZ AND COLLEAGUE ENTERING CONTROL ROOM TAUSZ AND COLLEAGUE IN ROOM WITH TUBES DISTRIBUTING CO2 CLOSE OF LEAF WITH ARRAY IN BACKGROUND / ZOOM OUT TO WIDE OF ARRAY
- Embargoed: 5th July 2017 15:20
- Keywords: BIFoR University of Birmingham Birmingham Institute of Forest Research forest pollution carbon dioxide
- Location: STAFFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, UK
- City: STAFFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Pollution,Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA0026M82SEZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A forest in the English Midlands is being deliberately pumped full of carbon dioxide as part of a decade-long experiment to determine how effective woodland is at mitigating the predicted levels of CO2 expected by 2050.
The Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) experiment at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) first came online in April 2017, but received its official launch on Wednesday (June 21).
Built into existing woodland the BIFoR facility consists of six vast arrays, each 30 metres wide and made up of a series of masts reaching up about 25 metres into the mature forest canopy. Concentrated CO2 is fed through pipes to the top of the masts where it is pumped into the foliage. Three of the six arrays are 'controls', meaning they are identical to the others, except that no CO2 is pumped from them.
It was built without the use of concrete foundations or guy ropes, so when the project ends it can be dismantled and removed without impact on the environment.
Last year the United Nations (U.N.) announced that the global average of carbon dioxide, the main man-made greenhouse gas, reached 400 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere for the first time on record and was 44 percent above levels before the Industrial Revolution. The 'forest lab' in Staffordshire is replicating this upward trend.
"The forest here sees nearly 40 percent more CO2 than it sees normally, because that's what it will be globally in about 2050; a value of 550 parts per million, compared to 400 parts per million now," said BIFoR co-director Michael Tausz from the University of Birmingham.
It's long been known that trees absorb CO2 from the air and lock it away as a 'carbon sink', but a number of key questions remain.
"According to estimates between 20 and 30 percent of the additional CO2 released by human activity goes back into forest ecosystems," added Tausz. "They happily take a bit more CO2 because that's their main nutrient. But we don't know how much more and whether they can do that indefinitely. We especially don't know that with a big complete forest ecosystem like this one."
Leaf samples are regularly collected from the canopy, with the impact of the increasing CO2 showing up in the leaf chemistry of exposed trees within days.
While much of the research will focus on the 160-year-old oak trees that make up much of the site, the study also wants to establish the raised CO2's effect on the biodiversity of the wider ecosystem, including on soil, insects and fungi.
The BIFoR FACE facility is the first of its kind in Europe, although two more - in Australia and Brazil - are assessing elevated CO2 in different climatic regions of the world.
Deforestation is shrinking the carbon storage capacity of the world's forest, but understanding their role in climate change mitigation could force policy makers to take heed.
"We could get a clear idea of whether they can keep helping us into the future by sucking up more CO2," said Tausz.
"We can also estimate how they might get into imbalances and what would happen to the normally well-functioning cycles in a forest ecosystem." - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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