Desert ’carbon Farming’ To Curb CO2

Desert ’carbon farming’ to suppress CO2

1 August 2013

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By Matt McGrath

Environment reporter, BBC News

Scientists say that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations might be a reliable way of suppressing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed ”carbon farming”, researchers say the concept is financially competitive with modern carbon capture and storage tasks.

But critics say the idea could be have unexpected, unfavorable effects consisting of driving up food prices.

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

Seeds of modification

Jatropha curcas is a plant that originated in Central America and is extremely well adjusted to severe conditions including incredibly dry deserts.

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

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

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

”There was excellent growth, a great reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no issue trying it on a much larger scale, for example 10 thousand hectares in the beginning,” he stated.

According to the researchers a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would soak up all the CO2 produced by automobiles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year period.

The scientists say that a critical aspect of the plan would be the schedule of desalination facilities. This suggests that initially, any plantations would be restricted to seaside areas.

They are hoping to develop larger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other plans that just balance out the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha might be a good, short term service to climate modification.

”I think it is an excellent concept since we are truly drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – and it is entirely various in between extracting and preventing.”

According to the scientist’s calculations the costs of suppressing co2 via the 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 countries are currently trialling this technology, external but it has yet to be released commercially.

Growing jatropha not just absorbs CO2 but has other benefits. The plants would assist to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be harvested for biofuel state the scientists, supplying an economic return.

”Jatropha is ideal to be turned into biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel,” said Prof Becker.

But other experts in this location are not convinced. They point to the reality that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, particularly in Africa. But much of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really effective in managing dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was as soon as viewed as the terrific, 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 frequently individuals who require marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location – we wouldn’t class the land as limited.”

She pointed out that jatropha is extremely harmful and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had issues about the fairness of the idea.

”It is still someone else’s land. Why enter and grow these huge 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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