Electricity from trees

[Dead_Parrot]

No, not like that, don't get over-excited. I would have chosen "EVIL TREES RELEASE RADIOACTIVITY, BURN THEM ALL", but they didn't ask me. Sniff.

Anyway, I thought this was interesting...

Plants have long been known as the lungs of the earth, but a new finding has found they may also play a role in electrifying the atmosphere.

Scientists have long-suspected an association between trees and electricity but researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) think they may have finally discovered the link.

Dr Rohan Jayaratne and Dr Xuan Ling from QUT's International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (ILAQH), led by Professor Lidia Morawska, ran experiments in six locations around Brisbane, including the Brisbane Forest Park, Daisy Hill and Mt Coot-tha.

They found the positive and negative ion concentrations in the air were twice as high in heavily wooded areas than in open grassy areas, such as parks.

More: http://www.qut.edu.au/about/news/news?news-id=41536
Paper (sub): http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es201152g

[freshwest]

1. Which is why the old saying goes, that 'when animals leave an area and the forest is gone,

It is a good idea to remove yourself from that neighborhood.'

I love trees.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Role of Vegetation in Enhancing Radon Concentration and Ion Production in the Atmosphere

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es201152g

[font face=Times, Times New Roman, Serif]
[font size=3]…

The role of ions in the production of atmospheric particles has gained wide interest due to their profound impact on climate. Away from anthropogenic sources, molecules are ionized by alpha radiation from radon exhaled from the ground and cosmic ? radiation from space. These molecular ions quickly form into “cluster ions”, typically smaller than about 1.5 nm. Using our measurements and the published literature, we present evidence to show that cluster ion concentrations in forest areas are consistently higher than outside. Owing to the low range of alpha particles, radon present deep in the ground cannot directly contribute to the measured cluster ion concentrations. We propose an additional mechanism whereby radon, which is water-soluble, is brought up by trees and plants through the uptake of groundwater and released into the atmosphere by transpiration. We estimate that, in a forest comprising eucalyptus trees spaced 4 m apart, trees may account for up to 37% of the radon that is released from the ground during the middle of the day when transpiration rates are high. The corresponding percentage on an annual basis is 4.1%. Considering that 24% of the earth’s land area is still covered in forests; these findings have potentially important implications for atmospheric aerosol formation and climate.

…[/font][/font]

Son of a gun. (Makes perfect sense when you think about it.)

[Politicalboi]

3. Yeah but

How tall are they? They would have to be the right height. LOL!