Has anyone out there figured out the carbon footprint from gasoline lawn mowers and lawn fertilizers? I have seen a couple of reports that show a lawn as a carbon sink, but the analyses seemed to ignore the carbon output of lawn mowers and I do not think they figured in the manufacture of nitrogen fertilizer and the trucking of those fertilizers.
Gary Fish
Coordinator Maine YardScaping Partnership
28 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0028
207-287-7545
207-624-5020 fax
http://www.YardScaping.org
Has Anyone Out There Figured Out the Carbon Footprint from Gasoline Lawn Mowers
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I'd be interested in seeing any reports on lawns as a carbon sink. Compared to deep perennial grasses, or even trees, I'm suspicious, even taking power mowers and synthetic chemicals out of the equation.
Adam

Some have asked about the information I had seen on lawns as a carbon sink. Here is one article http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Lawn/lawn3.html
Gary Fish
Manager, Pesticide Programs
Maine Board of Pesticides Control
28 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0028
207-287-7545
207-624-5020 fax
http://www.ThinkFirstSprayLast.org
http://www.YardScaping.org

This strikes me as a pretty sketchy study. Even assuming that the modeling is good, we have no idea how long the 16.7 teragrams (~18.5 megatons) in the theoretical annual lawn sink will last. Is it cumulative each year (unlikely)? For how long? This research doesn't provide much if any evidence to support anything but returning lawns to their natural state, especially deep perennial grasses in the midwest, and for wisely managed food producing purposes where needed.
Adam

I agree. It is just one of the sources I found.
Gary Fish
Manager, Pesticide Programs
Maine Board of Pesticides Control
28 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0028
207-287-7545
207-624-5020 fax
http://www.ThinkFirstSprayLast.org
http://www.YardScaping.org
Gary,
I'd like references for those reports (lawns as carbon sinks), if you have them to hand. Where can I find them?
Dave