Bamboo
Land Use
Bamboo rapidly sequesters carbon in biomass and soil and can thrive on degraded lands. It has more than 1,000 uses, from buildings to food to paper.
Rank and results by 2050 #35
Bamboo
| Reduced CO2: | 7 gigatons |
|---|---|
| Net cost (Billions US$): | $23.79 |
| Net operational savings: | $264.80 billion |
TOTAL CO2-EQ REDUCTION (GT)
Total CO2-equivalent reduction in atmospheric greenhouse gases by 2050 (gigatons)
NET COST (billions US $)
Net cost to implement
SAVINGS (billions US $)
Net savings by 2050
Impact:
Bamboo is planted on 77 million acres today. We assume that it will be grown on an additional 37 million acres of degraded or abandoned lands. Our carbon sequestration calculations include both living biomass and long-lived bamboo products, with an annual rate of 2.9 tons of carbon per acre. Where bamboo is substituted for aluminum, concrete, plastic, or steel, there can be avoided emissions as well, which are not included in the total of 7.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide sequestered by 2050. An initial investment of $24 billion could yield a thirty-year financial return of $265 billion.
Bamboo
Land Use
Bamboo rapidly sequesters carbon in biomass and soil and can thrive on degraded lands. It has more than 1,000 uses, from buildings to food to paper.
In the Philippine creation story, the first man Malakas (Strong One) and the first woman Maganda (Beautiful One) emerged from the two halves of a bamboo tree. It is one of many Asian origin myths that features bamboo—a plant that human beings have cultivated for more than a thousand uses, from buildings to food to paper.
Addressing global warming is another way it can be brought into service. Bamboo rapidly sequesters carbon in biomass and soil, taking it out of the air faster than almost any other plant, and can thrive on inhospitable degraded lands—the ideal place to put bamboo to work.
Just a grass, bamboo has the compressive strength of concrete and the tensile strength of steel. It reaches its full height in one growing season, at which time it can be harvested for pulp or allowed to grow to maturity over four to eight years. After being cut, bamboo re-sprouts and grows again.
Because bamboo is an invasive species in many places, which can spread with detrimental effects to native ecosystems, care should be taken to select appropriate locations and manage its growth.
