How much CO2 does a tree absorb?
A freshly planted seedling captures roughly 5 to 6 kg of CO2 a year. By year five it is 10 to 12 kg, by year ten 15 to 18 kg, and a mature tree settles around 22 to 25 kg a year. Carbon capture rises with age, which changes how tree planting should be measured and rewarded.
The curve, year by year
Year 1 seedling: 5 to 6 kg per year · Year 5 young tree: 10 to 12 kg · Year 10 fast growth: 15 to 18 kg · Year 15 to 20 full power: 22 to 25 kg per year.
These are working averages. Species, climate, soil and space all move the number, and any single figure quoted without that caveat should be treated with suspicion. The shape of the curve, however, is consistent: young trees capture little, mature trees capture several times more.
What that means in daily life
- A year of driving a petrol or diesel car: roughly 90 to 100 adult trees working for you.
- One 50 litre tank of fuel: more than five years of work by a single mature tree.
- A transatlantic return flight: around 45 trees.
- A year of smartphone use, charging and streaming: two to three trees.
- Simply breathing for a year, about 365 kg: roughly 16 trees.
- A whole average lifestyle, 5 to 8 tonnes: a private forest of 250 to 350 trees per person.
The home page has a calculator that turns your own driving, flights and household into a tree count.
Why this shapes the reward model
If capture rises with age, a single payment handed over at registration is measuring the wrong thing. It pays for an event, when the value is in the decades that follow.
PLANTAURUM therefore pays again each year the tree is verified alive, with the yearly amount rising as the tree matures: 1x in year one, climbing to roughly double by year five. The reward curve deliberately mirrors the carbon curve, so the incentive and the environmental benefit move together. The mechanics are on how it works.
Which trees absorb the most
Species and place matter more than most people expect. A fast-growing broadleaf in a warm, wet climate can outperform a slow conifer several times over in its early decades. Oak, beech, poplar and eucalyptus all sit at the higher end, and a tree planted where it already belongs will always beat the same species struggling somewhere it does not.
This is why native species in suitable ground are the rule rather than a preference. A native tree arrives with the soil, the rainfall and the insects it evolved alongside, so it grows faster, needs less help and lives long enough for the decades that matter to actually happen.
What happens to the carbon when the tree dies
Carbon a tree captures does not simply return to the air the moment it stops growing. Roughly half the dry weight of wood is carbon, and much of it stays locked in the trunk, the roots and the soil around them for a long time afterwards.
Where the wood goes decides the rest. Timber used in a building holds its carbon for as long as the building stands, often a century. Wood left to decay on the forest floor releases slowly while feeding the soil that grows the next generation. Either way, a forest that keeps replacing itself holds a standing stock of carbon that grows over time, which is the reason forests, not individual trees, are what move the number.
What the numbers depend on
Every figure on this page is an average, and averages are a starting point rather than a promise. Four things decide where a particular tree lands.
- Species and climate. The spread between a fast broadleaf in a warm, wet place and a slow conifer on thin soil is several times over, not a few per cent.
- Survival. Carbon is captured by the years a tree lives, so a tree confirmed standing for a decade is worth far more than ten trees planted and never seen again. This is the whole reason the reward follows the years rather than the planting.
- Age. Mature forests do most of today's work, and a tree planted now is an investment that compounds over decades. Both matter, and they matter at different times.
- What it is added to. Planting works alongside cutting emissions, and the two together go much further than either alone.
Common questions
How much CO2 does one tree absorb per year?
It depends on age and species. A seedling absorbs about 5 to 6 kg of CO2 per year, a five year old tree 10 to 12 kg, a ten year old 15 to 18 kg, and a mature tree roughly 22 to 25 kg per year.
How many trees offset one person?
A typical lifestyle emitting 5 to 8 tonnes of CO2 a year would need roughly 250 to 350 mature trees working continuously. One year of average car driving alone is in the range of 90 to 100 trees.
Do older trees absorb more carbon than young ones?
Yes. Annual capture rises substantially as a tree matures, which is why keeping existing trees alive matters at least as much as planting new ones.