Does burning wood release all of the carbon a tree has captured in its lifetime? Does a dead decomposing tree do the same?

Question

Anytime carbon capture comes up, the conversation devolves into commenters saying the entire idea is dumb and trees already exist. I’d like to know more about the full life cycle of a tree and if the carbon it captures is permanent.

In: 199

Answer 1

Matter is not created or destroyed in chemical reactions.

If you take a tree, harvest it, use it for lumber to build a house, that wood captures the carbon until the house is destroyed.

Carbon that was CO2 that then becomes a tree (various organic molecules) will decompose to CO2 and other molecules if it rots.

If you burn the tree is mostly becomes CO2.