Lets talk about Trees first and their ability to absorb C02
Just as we humans are comprised of many parts functioning together allowing us to do wondrous things, the anatomy of a tree is just as wondrous, empowering them with super hero qualities.

What am I talking about? A tree has the ability to provide the essentials of life for all living things on our planet – oxygen! , and the power to remove harmful gases like carbon dioxide making the air we breathe healthier.

To keep it simple, a tree is comprised of its leaves, stems, trunk and its roots. When you look at a tree, note that about five percent of the tree is comprised of its leaves, 15 percent its stems, 60 percent goes into its trunk and 20 percent is devoted to its roots.
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​Here is the super hero part. Through a process called photosynthesis, leaves pull in carbon dioxide and water and use the energy of the sun to convert this into chemical compounds such as sugars that feed the tree. But as a by-product of that chemical reaction oxygen is produced and released by the tree.

Trees also store carbon dioxide in their fibres, helping to clean the air and reduce the negative effects that this CO2 could have had on our environment. According to the Arbor Day Foundation,

So next time you take a deep breath of air give credit to a tree or hug a tree in thanks for what it gives us – the very air we breathe.

Global CO2 levels could be reduced by planting trees as national geographic concludes, "If we act now we could cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least 25% these levels would not have been seen until almost a century ago".

If you own land, plant trees on it. As the old Chinese proverb goes, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world because of its beauty, strength and durability, among other benefits. Concrete is used in nearly every type of construction, including homes, buildings, roads, bridges, airports and subways, just to name a few.

And in an era of increased attention on the environmental impact of construction, concrete performs well when compared to other building materials. As with any building product, production of concrete and its ingredients does require energy that in turn results in the generation of carbon dioxide, or CO2.

The amount of CO2 produced during manufacturing and the net impact of using concrete as a building material is relatively small

As with all industrial processes requiring energy, manufacturing cement does result in the generation of CO2.

• Cement is manufactured from a combination of naturally occurring minerals - calcium (60%by weight) mainly from limestone or calcium carbonate, silicon (20%), aluminum (10%),iron (10%) and small amounts of other ingredients and heated in a large kiln to over 1500° C (2700° F) to convert the raw materials into clinker.

• For the most part, CO2 is generated from two different sources during the cement
manufacturing process:
− Use of fossil fuels in the burning process;
− Calcination, when calcium carbonate is heated and broken down to calcium oxide with
the release of CO2.

A significant portion of the CO2 produced during manufacturing of cement is reabsorbed into concrete during the product life cycle through a process called carbonation. One research study estimates that between 33% and 57% of the CO2 emitted from calcination will be reabsorbed through carbonation of concrete surfaces over a 100-year life cycle.

• Concrete compares favourably to other building materials such as steel, wood and asphalt when analysing energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

• Concrete building systems such as insulating concrete forms and tilt-up concrete incorporate insulation, high thermal mass and low air infiltration to create energy efficient wall systems that save energy over the life of a building. The result is significantly lower CO2 emissions related to building occupancy when compared to wood and steel frame construction.

• In one research study comparing energy performance of various concrete wall systems towood frame and steel frame structures, concrete wall systems reduced energy requirements for a typical home by more than 17%. By comparison, a stick-frame house would have to be built with 250 x50mm timber and R-38 insulation to achieve the same energy performance as the insulated concrete wall comprised of 150 mm (6 in) of concrete and two layers of 60 mm (2in) thick rigid insulation.14

• Another research study compared the energy cost of a steel framed building with lightly framed exterior walls to that of a concrete framed building with concrete exterior walls to determine the benefit of thermal mass. The analysis was conducted for six different cities in the U.S. Energy cost savings for the concrete frame building were 5% in Miami, 10% in Phoenix, 16% in Memphis, TN, 18% in Chicago, 21% in Denver, and 23% in Salem.