Gmelina can absorb carbon dioxide

Yemane (Gmelina arborea), a species fondly dubbed as "furniture tree", can sequester or absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

A study done by the Los Baños-based Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (DENR-ERDB) also found that yemane stores the carbon dioxide it sequesters in its roots, stems, and foliage through the scientific process of photosynthesis.

The research, titled "Biomass and carbon sequestration of Gmelina arborea Roxb," was conducted by Dr. Leuvina Micosa-Tandug. It won the F.S. Pollisco Research and Development award conferred by the Los Baños Science Community Foundation, Inc. (LBSCF) during the celebration of this year’s National Science and Technology Week (NSTW).

Based on the analyses done on the tree samples taken, the biomass of the oven-dried stem wood had 46.06 percent carbon; the barks, 43.53 percent; the branches, 44.48 percent; and the leaves, 44.89 percent.

On the average, a yemane tree can store 44.73 percent carbon in its dry mass, the study reported. – Rudy A. Fernandez