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

Most plants release sugars into the soils to feed beneficial microorganisms. That sugar comes from atmospheric carbon. A ton of carbon gets sequestered in the soil until you till it up.

So not all of the captured carbon is released when the tree burns and even less does when it decomposes for reasons other comments have mentioned.