Desert ‘carbon Farming’ To Curb CO2

Desert ‘carbon farming’ to curb CO2

1 August 2013

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By Matt McGrath

Environment correspondent, BBC News

Scientists state that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations could be an effective way of suppressing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed “carbon farming”, scientists say the idea is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage jobs.

But critics state the idea might be have unexpected, unfavorable effects including driving up food costs.

The research has actually been released, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.

Seeds of change

Jatropha curcas is a plant that originated in Central America and is extremely well adjusted to harsh conditions including exceptionally arid deserts.

It is already grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world due to the fact that its seeds can produce oil.

In this research study, German scientists showed that a person hectare of jatropha could record approximately 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The researchers based their price quotes on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.

“The outcomes are frustrating,” stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

“There was excellent growth, a good response from these plants. I feel there will be no problem attempting it on a much larger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the start,” he said.

According to the scientists a plantation that would cover 3 percent of the Arabian desert would take in all the CO2 by cars and trucks and trucks in Germany over a twenty years period.

The scientists say that a critical component of the plan would be the schedule of desalination centers. This implies that initially, any plantations would be confined to seaside locations.

They are wanting to develop bigger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other plans that simply balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, short term solution to climate modification.

“I think it is a great idea because we are really drawing out carbon dioxide from the environment – and it is completely various between drawing out and preventing.”

According to the researcher’s computations the costs of curbing co2 via the planting of trees would be between 42 and 63 euros per tonne. This makes it competitive with other strategies, such as the more high tech carbon capture and storage, external (CCS).

A variety of nations are presently trialling this technology, external but it has yet to be deployed commercially.

Growing jatropha not only soaks up CO2 but has other benefits. The plants would help to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be collected for biofuel state the scientists, offering a financial return.

“Jatropha is perfect to be developed into biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel,” stated Prof Becker.

But other experts in this area are not persuaded. They indicate the reality that in 2007 and 2008 big numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But numerous of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really successful in coping with dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project manager for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was once seen as the great, green hope the reality was really various.

“When jatropha was introduced it was viewed as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or marginal land,” she stated.

“But there are frequently individuals who require marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area – we wouldn’t class the land as minimal.”

She explained that jatropha is highly hazardous and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had issues about the fairness of the idea.

“It is still somebody else’s land. Why enter and grow these enormous plantations to deal with an issue these people didn’t really cause?”

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related internet links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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