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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 reporter, BBC News

Scientists state that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations might be an efficient way of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed “carbon farming”, scientists say the concept is economically competitive with modern carbon capture and storage jobs.

But critics state the concept could be have unforeseen, unfavorable impacts including driving up food costs.

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

Seeds of change

Jatropha curcas is a plant that stemmed in Central America and is effectively adjusted to severe conditions consisting of very dry deserts.

It is currently 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 revealed that a person hectare of jatropha could catch up to 25 tonnes of co2 from the environment every year. The researchers based their quotes on trees presently 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 good development, a great reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no problem attempting it on a much bigger scale, for instance 10 thousand hectares in the beginning,” he said.

According to the researchers a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would absorb all the CO2 produced by vehicles 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 implies that initially, any plantations would be restricted to seaside areas.

They are intending to establish larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that simply balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, short-term option to climate modification.

“I believe it is a good concept due to the fact that we are truly extracting co2 from the environment – and it is entirely various in between extracting and avoiding.”

According to the researcher’s estimations the costs of curbing carbon dioxide through the planting of trees would be in 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 currently trialling this innovation, external but it has yet to be released commercially.

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

“Jatropha is ideal to be become biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel,” stated Prof Becker.

But other in this area are not convinced. They indicate the fact that in 2007 and 2008 large numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But a number of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really effective in dealing with dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was when seen as the great, green hope the reality was extremely different.

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

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

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

“It is still somebody else’s land. Why go in and grow these huge plantations to handle 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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