Bloomberg Businessweek Asia Edition - 05 August 2019

23

TheCarbonCaptureTree

Anempresscangrow 10 to 20 feettallin itsfirstyear,whichhelpsit

storecarbonmoreefficientlythanothertreespecies

WorldTreereliesonfarmersaroundtheworldtoplantthetrees

Eachacreofempress

treesis equivalentto

about 80 passenger

vehiclesbeing

takenofftheroadfor

a year

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHUCK HEMARD FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK

Tohelpbattleglobalwarming,companiesaroundtheworldareexpectedtospendbillionsofdollarsoverthenext
decadebuildingdevicesaimedatsuckingcarbonfromtheatmosphere.Thethingis,MotherNaturealreadymade
one.Whileeachacreofmosttreespeciescancaptureandstore1.1to9.5metrictonsofcarbondioxidea year,an
acreofempresstreescanabsorb103.“Thetreehasa veryJackandtheBeanstalkenergytoit,”saysWendyBurton,
whose15-year-oldMesa,Ariz.-basedtimbercompany,WorldTree,hasplantedmorethan1,000acresofempress.
Oncethetreesreachmaturity,farmersharvesttheirwoodforusein housesormusicalinstruments.WorldTree
investorssharein theprofits.Thetreescanregroweasilyfromthestumpsafterthey’vebeenharvested.SaysCathy
Key,thecompany’schiefoperatingofficer:“It’sa treethatgrowslikegrass.”�EmilyChasan