Nice looking splitter.
As for wood burning and carbon... the tree soaks up the carbon as it grows. If it dies and falls over, the carbon gets released slowly as it rots. If you burn it, the carbon gets release quickly. Either way, it gets released.
I justify my wood burning like this...
We bought 20 acres, 10 of which were wooded, with a 4 and 6 acre field. We reforested the 4 acre field mechanically with 2000+ trees, half pine and half mixed hardwoods. We let the 6 acre field go natural and it, too, is now a forest. The state forester estimated the 10 acre woods had 20,000 trees in it. We remove about 50-100 12" diameter x 60' locust trees from it annually, which opens up small clearings where other tree species just seem to show up and grow. The woods is full of mixed species trees, animal life abounds, the highly erodible soil is stabilized, the creek receives very little soil runoff and we convert massive amounts of carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Pretty sweet deal. :thumbsup: