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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 say that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations could be an efficient method of suppressing emissions of CO2.

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

But critics state the concept could be have unexpected, negative effects consisting of increasing food prices.

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

Seeds of modification

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is effectively adapted to extreme conditions consisting of very 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 researchers showed that one hectare of jatropha might catch approximately 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment 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 overwhelming,” stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

“There was good development, a great response from these plants. I feel there will be no issue trying it on a much bigger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the beginning,” he stated.

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

The researchers state that a vital component of the strategy would be the schedule of desalination facilities. This suggests that at first, any plantations would be confined to seaside areas.

They are wanting to develop larger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that simply balance out the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, short-term option to climate change.

“I think it is a great concept because we are truly drawing out carbon dioxide from the environment – and it is entirely various in between extracting and avoiding.”

According to the researcher’s calculations the costs of curbing co2 by means of the planting of trees would be in 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 number of nations are this innovation, external but it has yet to be released commercially.

Growing jatropha not just soaks up CO2 but has other advantages. The plants would help to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be harvested for biofuel say the researchers, supplying a financial return.

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

But other experts in this location are not encouraged. They indicate the reality that in 2007 and 2008 large numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But much of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely successful in managing dry conditions.

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

“When jatropha was introduced it was seen as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land,” she said.

“But there are frequently individuals who require marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location – we would not class the land as marginal.”

She explained that jatropha is extremely toxic and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she likewise had issues about the fairness of the concept.

“It is still someone else’s land. Why enter and grow these huge plantations to deal with a problem these people didn’t in fact trigger?”

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related internet links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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