Desert ‘carbon Farming’ To Curb CO2

Desert ‘carbon farming’ to curb CO2

1 August 2013

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By Matt McGrath

Environment reporter, BBC News

Scientists state that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert locations could be an effective method of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed “carbon farming”, researchers say the concept is economically competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage projects.

But critics say the idea could be have unexpected, negative effects including driving up food prices.

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

Seeds of change

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is really well adapted to harsh conditions consisting of incredibly dry 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 study, German researchers showed that a person hectare of jatropha could record approximately 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment every year. The researchers based their quotes on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.

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

“There was great growth, an excellent reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much bigger scale, for instance ten thousand hectares in the beginning,” he stated.

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

The scientists say that a crucial component of the strategy would be the schedule of desalination centers. This means that at first, any plantations would be to seaside areas.

They are wanting to establish larger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that just balance out the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha could be a great, short term service to environment change.

“I think it is an excellent idea because we are truly drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – and it is completely various in between drawing out and avoiding.”

According to the scientist’s estimations the costs of suppressing carbon dioxide by means of the planting of trees would be between 42 and 63 euros per tonne. This makes it competitive with other methods, such as the more high tech carbon capture and storage, external (CCS).

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

Growing jatropha not just takes in CO2 however has other advantages. The plants would help to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be gathered for biofuel state the scientists, providing an economic return.

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

But other professionals in this area are not persuaded. They indicate the truth that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, specifically in Africa. But a number of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really effective in handling dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was when seen as the terrific, green hope the truth was very various.

“When jatropha was presented it was seen as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or marginal land,” she stated.

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

She pointed out that jatropha is highly poisonous 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 go in and grow these massive plantations to deal with a problem these individuals didn’t in fact trigger?”

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related web links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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