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There seems to be general confusion amongst Australians about CO2. Global warming is not caused by CO2. It is caused by changing the balance of gases in the air by introducing CO2 from fossil fuels.
Without CO2 cycling naturally in the atmosphere there would be no life at all. It is as critical to life as water.
So if you burn wood in a fireplace, CO2 from the wood is released to the air. If you then plant a tree it absorbs that CO2. You can do this as much as you like without causing global warming. As long as the source of wood is being managed in a sustainable fashion and care is taken to maintain biodiversity burning wood is not a cause for global warming. The carbon released from leaving dead wood on the ground to rot is higher then that released from burning that wood (again issues of biodiversity/habitat need to be addressed).
So wood fired power stations are indeed an option if it can be shown that the source of timber is sustainable. In fact the net result can be carbon negative because some carbon is trapped in charcoal which can then be buried in soil and is thus taken out of circulation for centuries.
It is also claimed that gases from cows is major cause of global warming, not so. The carbon released by cows (as methane) is from grass. As the grass regrows it reabsorbs the same amount of carbon in a balanced cycle. The methane is broken down in the atmosphere (reacts with OH) and is eventually converted back to CO2. Natural wetlands are in fact the major source of methane. there are of course many other good reasons why cow production for food is stupid but the fact that cows fart is not one them.
The solution to global warming is simple; - Stop digging up fossil fuels.
- Find ways of removing the CO2 from the fossil fuels we have already released. Sequestration
There is no other way.
CO2 is our friend and fossil fuels need to stay in the ground.
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