How Many Trees to Offset 1 Ton of CO2 (& Why It Doesn't Matter) (2024)

How many trees to offset 1 ton of CO₂? To offset one ton of CO₂, between 31 and 46 trees are required…but it’s not that it doesn’t matter…IT DOES…it’s just that other facts need to be considered before making such a claim.

To offset a ton of carbon emissions, people need to plant way more trees than just cover an acre per person. Plus, did you know that there’s a right and wrong way to plant trees?

It’s true.

Planting the wrong trees in a place where they shouldn’t be can cause serious harm to delicate ecosystems, which is why many critics argue that afforestation projects can’t help the planet.

Find out how many trees to offset 1 ton of CO₂ here:

Keep reading to learn why it doesn’t always matter how many trees…it matters where the trees are planted and why.

How Many Trees Per Person? Find Out

In a groundbreaking study published in Nature on Wednesday, a group of 38 scientists discovered that the globe is habitat to 3.04 trillion trees, far beyond the prior estimation of 400 billion. According to the experts, there are 422 trees per human on the planet.¹

The researchers, on the other hand, do not believe this to be good news. According to the report, there are 46% fewer trees on the planet than were before civilization started the long, but recently accelerated, path of cutting down trees en masse.

In fact, the article evaluates that people, as well as other factors such as bushfires and insect infestation, are liable for the destruction of 15.3 billion trees annually — however, the researchers said at a media briefing that 5 billion among these trees may regrow annually, bringing the total loss to more than 10 billion.

Here’s a table showing the number of trees per person⁴ in every country in the world:

What’s Wrong With Planting Trees to Reduce Emissions?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with planting trees! Trees are the planet’s natural carbon reduction technology that’s been going strong for millions of years. But if you want to reduce emissions by undergoing a tree planting project, there is a right and wrong way to do it.

When trees are planted in areas where they grow natively, planting trees is an awesome way to reduce emissions. This is called “reforestation.”

But, problems can occur with some “afforestation” projects. These projects plant trees where there weren’t any forests…and they rarely consider the native species.

Related Reading: How many trees are planted each year?

Afforestation using non-native plants can lead to a loss of biodiversity, the change of certain ecoregions, the entrance of non-native and ultimately invasive species, and diminished agricultural output if it is not well managed.

Most afforestation programs are tree farms.

These plantations are designed to grow trees for harvest after a certain number of years (usually 30-50 years). So, the trees grow and “capture” carbon emissions, but are harvested at a later date and processed.

The end result is that the sequestered carbon is recirculated back into the atmosphere.

It is only by rebuilding forests and protecting them that the carbon emissions can truly be erased.

Calculation of CO₂ Offsetting by Trees: Do This

How many trees to offset 1 ton of CO₂? One of the most significant greenhouse gas emissions is CO₂. During the photosynthetic activity, trees take CO₂ from the atmosphere and transform it into oxygen plus plant material.

Related Reading: How many trees are in the world?

The process of photosynthesis is a way through which plants use sunshine to transform CO₂ and H₂O into oxygen and glucose.

Using their roots, trees take in water from the earth. Through the pores in the foliage, CO₂ and breathable air are swapped with the atmospheric air. Other molecules, like complex sugars, are generated from glucose. When compared to other plants, trees produce the most net oxygen because they convert a considerable portion of CO₂ into roots and timber.

Related Reading: How many pieces of paper in a tree?

As a result, forest CO₂ fixation⁵ is substantially higher than in grasslands or plains, allowing them to offset some Carbon footprints.²

CO₂ Offsetting by Trees: By the Numbers

So, how many trees to offset 1 ton of CO₂? The Carbon dioxide balancing of trees is significantly influenced by the geography, variety of trees, and cycles and phases with similar climates or weather. Carbon dioxide offsets have been determined by numerous scientific investigations.

The yearly carbon dioxide balancing rate varies between 21.77- and 31.5-kilogram carbon dioxide for each tree. To offset one ton of Carbon dioxide, between 31 and 46 trees are required. One should use a ratio of 24 kilograms of carbon dioxide per tree and an estimate of five hundred trees per hectare to get the values.

Related Reading: How many Christmas trees per acre can be planted?

This indicates that 500 trees x 24 kg CO₂/tree = 12,000 kilograms of Carbon dioxide offsets per hectare, or twelve tons of Carbon dioxide per hectare.²

What’s Your Carbon Footprint?

The actual sum of greenhouse gas emissions⁶ produced by human activities is referred to as the carbon footprint.

In the U.S., a person’s estimated carbon footprint is sixteen tons, among the highest on the planet. The typical carbon footprint on a worldwide scale is nearer to four tons. Until 2050, the average worldwide carbon footprint annually must be below 2 tons to get the highest probability of averting a 2°C global warming trend, according to most climate change scientists.

Related Reading: How many trees does it take to build a house?

Individual carbon footprints can be reduced from sixteen tons to two tons over time. People can start making a large impact by making little changes to their activities.

Sources of Emissions

There are a number of sources of emissions. Basically, anything you use, eat, or do generates carbon emissions. Some facts include:

• Food contributes to between 10 to 30% of a family’s carbon footprint, with poorer households accounting for a larger share. Food production contributes to 68 percent of total emissions, with transportation accounting for 5%.
• Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, and Hydrogen are the main components of food production toxins, which are mostly caused by agricultural operations.
• Because of the poor transformation of the plant to animal fuel and waste produced from animal waste and intestinal decomposition in ruminant animals, animal products have higher carbon footprints per calorie compared to grain or plant products.
• In a typical American home, eliminating food transportation for a year might save the equivalent of commuting 1,001 miles in greenhouse gas emissions, while switching to a plant-based diet one day per week can save the equivalent of commuting for 1,161 miles.
• A plant-based diet minimizes a person’s carbon footprint significantly, but transitioning to little carbon-intensive meats can also have a significant impact. Brisket, for instance, emits 7.2 times more greenhouse gases per kg than chicken.
• At a power plant in the United States, an equivalent of 0.888 pounds of Carbon dioxide emissions is discharged for every kWh produced. Coal emits 2.39 pounds of carbon dioxide, petroleum emits 1.89 pounds, and oil and gas emit 0.89 pounds. When renewable sources of energy power plants generate energy, no Carbon dioxide is generated; nonetheless, pollutants are produced during the production process. Household energy consumption produced 598.89 MMT of Carbon dioxide emissions in 2019, accounting for 9.09% of total Carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.
• In 2021, space air conditioning systems are projected to account for 41.99 percent of total energy consumption in American households.
• Refrigerators are among the most energy-intensive home appliances; in 2018, refrigeration produced approximately 672 lbs of Carbon dioxide emissions per dwelling.
• Annually, laundry activities release 26 MMT of carbon dioxide in the United States. Changing to a cold-water wash once every week can save over 70 pounds of GHG pollution per year.
• From 1987 to 2005, the United States’ fuel efficiency (mpg) fell by 12%, but rose by 28.9% from 2004 to 2019, achieving an aggregate of 24.99 mpg in 2019. Since late1995s, average annual miles driven have climbed by 8.9% to 9,918 miles in 2019.
• In 2019, cars and trucks released 1.1 billion tons of Carbon dioxide, accounting for 16.9% of total the United States greenhouse gas emissions.
• The use phase accounts for 84 percent of the 66,001 lbs of Carbon dioxide emitted throughout the lifespan of an ic engine car.
• When gasoline is burned, it emits 19.6 pounds of Carbon dioxide per gallon, whereas diesel emits 22.5 pounds every gallon. Diesel, on the other hand, has 10.9% higher BTU in every gallon, which increases its fuel efficiency.
• By simply following the speed limit, a person can boost their car’s fuel economy by 7-14 percent. Over 50 miles per hour, every 5 miles per hour rise in the speed of the vehicle equates to an additional $0.30-$0.50 a gallon.
• Greenhouse gases produced from commercial aircraft vary depending on the kind of aircraft, route length, vacancy rates, and cargo and passenger load and reached 135.4 MMT Carbon dioxide emissions in 2020.
• The typical domestic airliner produced 0.41 pounds of Carbon dioxide emission per mile driven in 2019.
• International air transport fuel efficiency improved by 115 percent between 1991 and 2020, owing to higher occupancy. Due to higher capacity and fuel economy, emission levels per passenger mile reduced by 45 percent from 1991 to 2020.

Ways To Reduce Carbon Footprint

Climate change has the potential to be overpowering. The science is complicated, and many mysteries still exist when it comes to potential ramifications. Whilst true answers will necessitate global action, there are measures a person can undertake in their daily life to reduce their personal environmental effect. So, how many trees to offset 1 ton of CO₂, and what should be done?

Related Reading: How many trees are in the United States?

Reconsidering how much and how often one travel is among the most successful tactics to start thinking about how to minimize his/her carbon footprint. Carbon pollution from vehicles exceeded those from energy production as the prime source of greenhouse gas emissions in Nov. 2017. How so? Coal is being phased out of energy production in favor of renewables and fossil fuels.

According to a study published by academics at Lund University, being car-less for just a year might save approximately 2.6 tons of CO₂ – a little over a single intercontinental journey. How does one get rid of their car? They can consider taking the train, bus, or, better yet, riding their bike.

When it comes to buying a new car, it’s a wonderful time to think about how one may lower their individual carbon impact. There are several aspects to consider when deciding between hybrid, gasoline, hybrid, and electric vehicles, all of which will influence how “green” the individual’s purchase is.

Related Reading: How to reduce the carbon footprint of your air conditioner

The following suggestions may be useful:

• The person should consider where they’ll be charging up. The efficiency of hybrid and electric vehicles is also determined by where one resides, as various states depend on carbon energy to various extents.
• They should calculate both production and usage emissions. (There is also a carbon footprint associated with the production of electric vehicles.)
• Understand that cars with reduced emissions can often be less expensive to run.

Taking one fewer long round-trip travel could drastically reduce their individual carbon footprint.⁷ Consider this: if a person takes public transit frequently and just goes home to see family once in a while, their carbon footprint may still be manageable, however, if they drive and fly frequently, their footprints will be larger.

If a person can’t avoid traveling, they can compensate for the pollution by making donations to sustainable programs like providing efficient burners to rural houses or assisting farmers in India in selling agricultural waste as bioenergy. Additionally, they can look into tree planting offset programs like a daily driver carbon offset.

While food production is complex, and studies on the most eco-friendly diet are still growing, experts generally agree that reducing meat consumption, particularly red meat, is a better decision for the environment. This is due to the fact that red meat production consumes a lot of food, land, and water. Methane emissions are also produced by cows.

As a result, scientists believe that following a vegan diet is the greatest option for the environment. Red meat has close to 100 times the ecological consequences of vegetarian meals, as per a study in the Journal of Environmental Research Letters in 2017.

Consuming a pescetarian or vegetarian diet is likely to be healthier for the environment than eating a meat-heavy diet. Both these, though, are dependent on what someone is consuming and the quantity they’re eating. If one substitutes dairy for meat, for instance, their emissions may climb again.

On the matter of food, the majority of greenhouse gas pollution occurs during the manufacturing process instead of during shipping: what a person eats matters far beyond where it originates from. However, eating locally can make a significant difference.

Emissions can be reduced by reducing the number of food miles traveled. When one starts thinking about how the food reached them, instead of how far it traveled, eating locally becomes more complicated. Tomatoes transported by a truck over a small distance to a local farmer’s market or by train over a longer distance to a grocery shop could emit equal toxins.

Now that you know how many trees to offset 1 ton of CO₂ you can realize that it takes more than just planting trees to reduce emissions, but when done right tree planting project DO matter.

¹Mapping tree density at a global scale. (2016, 13 April). Nature. <https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14967?error=cookies_not_supported&code=aa29eda8-2cfe-42d9-bef5-556e10e31017>

²Calculation of CO2 offsetting by trees | Encon. (2022, 2 June). Encon. <https://www.encon.be/en/calculation-co2-offsetting-trees>

³How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint. (2021, 10 May). A Year of Living Better Guides – The New York Times. <https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint>

⁴Our World in Data. (2022). Number of Trees Per Capita. Number of Trees Per Capita. Retrieved June 09, 2022, from <https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/trees-per-capita?tab=table>

⁵Center for Sustainable Systems. (2022). Carbon Footprint Factsheet. Factsheets. Retrieved June 09, 2022, from <https://css.umich.edu/publications/factsheets/sustainability-indicators/carbon-footprint-factsheet>

⁶The Nature Conservancy. (2022). Calculate Your Carbon Footprint. How To Help. Retrieved June 9, 2022, from <https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/>

⁷European Union. (2021, July 9). How to reduce my carbon footprint? How to reduce my carbon footprint? Retrieved June 9, 2022, from <https://europa.eu/youth/get-involved/sustainable-development/how-reduce-my-carbon-footprint_en>

⁸Photo by Alessandra Ceja. Pixabay. Retrieved from <https://pixabay.com/photos/environment-reforestation-pine-6490647/>

⁹Photo by Ronnie Overgoor. Unsplash. Retrieved from <https://unsplash.com/photos/TfGqzlSaQdw>

¹⁰Photo by Clay Elliot. Unsplash. Retrieved from <https://unsplash.com/photos/EjKL9IZu3f8>