GREENPIANTS
Vbat is the best solation
for Caffirnia?
Build rnore power plants or plant
more trees?
Rcscarchcrs
at rhc Centerfor Urban
IioresrResearch
in D.rvis.Californi.rfbund rhrr phnting shrdetrees
crn reduce rlre need for power
-fhc
planrs.
study showsthat 50
nillion sbrdc trcesplrnted in
strltegic, energy-slvinglocLrtions
could climinrtc thc nccd ftr scvcn
l0Omcg.rwut(MW) powcrplants.
Are TreesReally the Answer?
Accor<ling
ro rhc (lcntcr l)ircctor,
"A
(llcq
I)r.
Mcl)hcrson, lfcc nrr.rsr
grorvat le,rst5 to l5 ye,rrsbcli,rcit
cln firlly contrit'utcto thc cnergv
consclvationprocess.IIowcvcr,if
w a d o r r i i r r v c sitn e n c r ' u y - c o n s c r v inq tlccs norv, thcv lvill not bc
l v u i l r b l e i n l 5 l , c r r r sr v h e n t h c
dcur.rncllirr cncrgv irill be cvcn
iarcurcr.
@:ru
r v
( l . i r u 1 , , .L i l . r , l . r $ r l { $ { , . h
Ir.iti. s.unrfc{ Iirrci..L \nt ,r
'Icl(phodr:
53ar-75:-76J6
Plantingtrees
can reducethe need
for powerplants
S ftateqically locating treest0 shadewestand east walls and
windo"wswill saueinergy dollars and reducethe needfor
Pouerplants.
Dt C4 AI' lh, t',t,t
Can ShadeTireesSolve the Energy Crisis?
(laliforniri ulb,rn ,rnd conrnrLrnitliorestshrvc apprrxinutelv 177 million otcs tl,rt irc closeenotLshto
honcs,r'rrl orhcr bLrildingsro havc.rn cffcct on ,rir conditioning costs. Lvtrr rhoLrghthcl .rrc not rrll
''srretcgicllll
hoLrls
locaterl . rhcv still rtrlLrccrnnLrirlrir conclitionirlgcnergy Lrseby (r.400 gigrrrv.rLt
((i Wh)-cqu iv,rlrnt to 7..) 100-N1Wpo*'cr pl.rnrs. As.r result,C.rlifirrni.rutilirics do not hirlc to prrr
r , i d cl s n r u c hc l c c n i c i t )r ) ( l s r v c$ 5 0 0 n r i l l i o n , r n n L r u l l(yi u. s t o n r e rsra v ca b o u t$ l b i l l i o n i n l c t l i l c x p c n s is redrrcedbv.rbout l0 pclcent.
rs firr rir corditioning,,rn.l pc,rhlo.rcl,:lcor,rrrd
I n . r i l c l i t i o nt o c r r e r g ls , r v i n g sL, r r b r nr r t c s p r t v i r l c n n n l , o r h c r L r c n t f l t s i n r p n , r c d, t i t c l L r . r l i trrt' t, t n tiorrrr|]strllnlrvlrrclrtrnonllnrlincrclrsctlprrlpert1'vlrlLrtthlrtrrrrr|<crhcnl
cvcrr'crrnrnlLrnit1''sgr'.cninl]r.lstILrctrrrt.t)r.\,lc1,heronpr'in*r,trttllrl
rhcserleeshrve irlrcir,lvbten nrrtlc, liecpinq thcsetr.cs hc,rlthyrnrl lirnction.rlis ont ol rhc best irrvest'
rncntsconrnrrrn
itics c,rn nrtlic.
V/hat Can More Trees Do:
l1 (l.rlilirrnirnscsrrblislr5{) nillion rro|c tr,:,:sin st|attgicIrcutions r\\() trrrs on rlr( wcsr rrrr(ior]c rrcr (Jrr
t|rcelrsrsitlco1.resit|,:nrill1brri|Llirrqsin|5r',llrrsthcrnllul1c
( i0\ t h .
1-1,50
What does this mean?
'lhis
rvill nc,riy rlorrblc(l'1..])thc nrrn,l,r'rtn
At lc,rsrscvcr l(X!NI\( poicr l,l,rnrsrvill n,,r l,,rvcro bc hrrilt.
porvtr lrlurrrs
rh.rrrre n
iticslvi||slrvelrrrlrJdirirrnll|$,16]nli||irrnlrrlrrLrlrll1,irlrlilo|csl]tt|cctlicitv
ltcsiL|cnrsrri||s:rvl$llli]lirlnirrlrrrrrLrlr|r'crlri|e|rc|!lV.o\t\1irrlrircrlnditillning
existirlqrr'ccs'llclr|r|olrt|t|enr.uttu,il1
ing rhc fiequcno ot rollirrghllcloLrrr.
177,000,OOO
TREES =
SEVENt00.1'lw
POWERPLAiITS
- t:\
'
=f w
1 7 7n r i l h f s h . d . u c c s. r c r l , e i d ) .
. S i y i n g$ l b i l l i o r i o K a i l r i r e o n d i t i o n i n g
. Reducingpcrk-loaddemind bv l0 percent
. Prod!.ing savingscqunalenrlo
7 . 3 1 0 0 - M Wp o w e rp l . n r s
tLl-
llllltri
; t,rrtHr.
v
Todal',pl.nr 50 nrillion nervtees in er.rgv siving
lo.ruors.
|'k
tua t/.a on th. udt id. r"d orc on th. .1it.
It's Not As Simple As Just Planting Trees
Sinceplanting 50 million addirionaltreeswould represenc
only 2l percenrof the potentialplanting
sites,it is criticalfor Californiansto selecrsireswith the greatest
potentialfor conservingenergy.Energy
savingpotenrialfrom creeplandngis greatestin climateregionswith the horest summersand the grearest needto useair conditioners:deserrscommunities,CenrralValley,and inland valleysof Southern
California.Contraryto popularbelief,rhe southsideofbuildings is lesscriricalfor treesbecause
ofthe
high sun anglein summer,making it more importanr as a placewherewinter sun can infilrrate and
warm buildineinteriors.
Itt A Long TermSolution
"Ve'll
sdll needpowerplanrs,but we wonr needas many,"saysDr McPherson."Shadetreeprograms
canbea verycost-eFective
measure
for conserving
energy,especially
peakloaddemand.Strategically
locating treesto shadewest and eastwalls and windows will saveenergydollarsand reducethe needfor power
plants. Although shadetreesdo not curtail peakloadsimmediately, they do promise reductionsthat will increaseas trees
grow larger Planting treesnow for fuure peakload reduction
and improved air quality and climate is a sensibleway to
lessenthe impact that California's growing population will
haveon limited energr resourcesand quality oflife."
Center for
Urban Forest Research
{ar Cn:atint
a
)
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References
McPhersol, E. Cregory;
S i m p s o nJ, a m e sR . 1 9 9 5 .
Shadetteesas a tlemanl ide
t*orne. Honc Energy 12:
rl - r 7 .
McPhemon,
E. Gregory.
1993.E dludtingtbc can
eJfi*iuner of shddtrus
for denaad side nanagr
urd The Electriciry
loumal 6(9):57-65.
McPherson,Fl. GregoLy.
1!)96. Urb foffit lnud:atpc:, how grcencrysatts
gtedbarkl Ii: Vagnu, C.,
ed.Annurl Meeting
Ptoccedings,Amcricrn
Socicryof Lrndscapc
Archirccts.\(ashingron,
Scorr,
Klaus.;
Simpson,
ll.r
McPheron,
[..
James
Cregory.1999. Eficx of
fteccouetonlnrkltg lol
ni rtoclinate,n d tt hidc
enissions.lonntlor
25r 129 l4l.
Arboric(lturc
DCt 27-29.
Simpson,
Jrtrcsl{. 199u.
(t lM".foat it,l,tttr o,
tgiotd coohrynr./ hutirg
McPhcsolr,Fl.(ltcgory;
Sinrpson.I.rmcslt.j Peper,
D.
ll J.rXiro,tl.r l)cttingo,
Il.i I-loclcl.
Ill. 11.1001.
't)tt
guirltlirc t'itrhhul
Eapirc nrnwritit:. I.oc,tl
(lovcnnrcnt(inn,issnrn:
tlA: 92 p.
Srcrrnrcnto,
Mclhcrson,1,.(lrcgoryj
Sinpun, lrnrcslt.: Pcpc,r
ll J.rXiro,Q.l99t. /ir4irn*,tmlyI rl /vlolt:roi
rutitil,al nrbm Jitu.
Jounnlol ArboriculruLc
25(5),235-2.48.
ltttgy w:,\ndn,t1tta
1tuq cr!! xtuh lt'\r\tt or
A|{)0icLrhLrrc
24,201-214.
Simpson,
Jrn,cslt.r
Ii. tircgorl,
McPherrcn,
1r)')8.Si rl,t!it,t ol Ittl
lrxl i,4,uu ar fti.lr,titt/
t,art, tur'lir yn..o,.titiori,( D Sr.htDt.rtu.
Arnosphcric
l'l,rviroon.nt:
n,fr tl Uit)ln Arnn)sfh.res
37:69-74.
LJSI)I i\ in..lull
nrl
nltInt& t ke /'[/ttltt\.
{ i c n . l c c h .l t c p . I ) S ! / C l l l ' l 7 l . A l l ) r n y .( l A :
I',rtilic Southrvcsrllcserrch
S r i o n , l i , | ! \ r S c N i c c .U . S .
I)cprJhcnr oi gri.uLrurc!
2:J7f.
(lfDr( liJr Ll rtn li,rcrt Rese.rrclt
l'.rtil Sorth'vtrrlLfsfrrehS$tii)n
hnp://culiucd,r'is.ctlLr/
(il0) 751l(,36 Fix:(5.10)
751-ararl4
off,orutitr Ionl.,
Mcl'hcrsn,li. (itcgoty;
Sirnpsrn,
JrnrcsIl. 1999.
Qttboa tliotitu nrlntnn
n,u'gl) nlN,' linrry:
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McPherson,
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1996.l|te thlt h"e
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