Paulownia, the CO2-hungry tree

Audio 02:34

Paulownia is an important, fast-growing tree species, widely distributed and popular with people.

© Blackstation / Gettyimages

By: Florent Guignard

7 mins

Paulownia is a useful tree in the fight against global warming, capable of absorbing 10 times more carbon dioxide than other trees, while the planet should beat its record for CO2 emissions in 2023.

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Let's start with the bad news, coming this week from the International Energy Agency: CO2 emissions, carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming, should break a new record in 2023 .

But we have good news, and it is in nature.

Trees are our weapons to fight against the excess CO2 produced by human activities.

 If you have trees that consume a high amount of carbon dioxide, nature will solve the problem of global warming.

It was my theory, and the theory was verified 

,

 affirms the Hungarian scientist Jozsef Steier who had the intuition that the paulownia was a tree full of hopes for the planet, an exceptional tree of which he produced a variety. hybrid, planted in particular in Marrakech in Morocco.

World growth record

Paulownia is native to Asia, recognizable by its flowers, purple, in clusters, a bit like jacarandas. Brought back to Europe, it was named in honor of the Princess of the Netherlands Anna Paulowna. It is first of all a tree with remarkable growth: it gains 2 centimeters per day in summer. It even entered the Guinness Book of Records. Three years after birth, a paulownia can measure 10 meters.

Above all, it absorbs, on average, 10 times more CO2 than conventional trees.

First thanks to its large leaves, according to the agronomist Daoud Raad, who imported paulownias from Morocco to Lebanon, and who promotes the tree in Syria and Jordan.

 The larger the surface of the leaf, the more CO2 it absorbs,” he

 explains. 

Paulownia has very large leaves, sometimes exceeding 1 meter in diameter.

So the paulownia leaf has a very high capacity to absorb CO2. 

"

A remarkable photosynthesis

But even more than its leaves, it is its way of absorbing carbon dioxide that sets it apart. Paulownia performs C4 type photosynthesis, like only 3% of known plants on the planet. Photosynthesis much more efficient than the vast majority of C3 type plants. Jozsef Steier did his calculations. "

 When the consumption of C3 trees in Europe is 13 tonnes per hectare and per year, C4 trees, like our paulownia hybrid, have a yield of 100 tonnes 

", figures the Hungarian researcher.

Paulownia planting programs are increasing. This ecological tree is also a powerful depolluting agent, with excellent quality wood. “

 It filters wastewater through the root system,” says 

Daoud Raad. 

In other words, we transform wastewater into a plantation that can provide us with wood, honey, greenery. It is a tree of the future. 

"

"How many trees would it take to plant to absorb all the excess CO2?"

A



lot!

To offset the carbon footprint of a single Frenchman, around sixty trees are needed per year.

And on a global scale, 1,200 billion trees should be planted, according to the calculation of Swiss researchers.

Area required: the equivalent of the area of ​​the United States.

All that remains is to find it ...

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