Forests, Energy & Clean Air

"A family that decides to build a wood home takes about 20,000 kg carbon from the air"

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As mentioned, even the European energy supply relies on approximately 75 percent from non-renewable sources like oil, gas and coal and this has a decisive disadvantage: it threatens our environment and our health!

Burning one ton of oil releases 2.8 tons of CO2 waste into the air. This means that the intense use of oil, gas, and coal causes the rise of CO2 into the atmosphere and relates to all the associated risks as warming of the atmosphere.

The question is: does our modern consumer society cause these results and if so, do we have to put up with it? What are useful alternatives?

Our forests can be part of our energy supply. The forest takes CO2 from the air and uses it as a building block to grow trees. If we build products which have a long lifecycle like furniture or homes, CO2 stays bound in the form of 250 kilogram carbon per cubic meter wood. A family which decides to build a wood home takes about 20,000 kilogram carbon from the air.

A tree is the largest, self-renewable storage sink of CO2 and sun energy. It is a power plant which produces oxygen and clean air for us humans. When burned correctly, wood releases not one gram more CO2 than it had absorbed from the atmosphere during its growth. A perfectly balanced and closed circuit which is not compromising the CO2 balance sheet of our environment.

The practice of using wood in the best way reduces pollution by using only dry and well-seasoned wood. It should be stacked neatly off the ground, protected from rain, and have dried for at least 6 months. Wood burns best when the moisture content is around 20%.

When lighting a fire, keep the air supply open and flames intense. Dark dense smoke contains gases which were not burned and is an indicator that the combustion is not good enough. Maintain and clean the wood stove and flue once a year because soot does not conduct heat and reduces efficiency. Always have more than one log on the fire, this gives the flames more surface and creates airflow to keep the fire going. To maintain airflow, empty the ashes regularly.