Question

Find out how much cellulose is made by all the plants in the biosphere and compare it with how much of paper is manufactured by man and hence what is the consumption of plant material by man annually.

Answer 1

Approximately, 100 billion tonnes of cellulose are made per year by all the plants in the biosphere and it takes 17 full grown trees to make one ton of paper. Trees are also used to fulfill the other requirements of man such as for timber, food, medicines, etc. Hence, it is difficult to calculate the annual consumption of plant material by man.