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 a reliable method of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed “carbon farming”, scientists state the concept is financially competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage tasks.

But critics say the concept might be have unpredicted, unfavorable 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 extremely well adjusted to harsh conditions including incredibly 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 showed that one hectare of jatropha might catch up to 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The scientists based their quotes on 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 good development, a great action from these plants. I feel there will be no issue trying it on a much bigger scale, for example 10 thousand hectares in the beginning,” he said.

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 in Germany over a 20 year duration.

The scientists say that a vital aspect of the plan would be the availability of desalination centers. This indicates that at first, any plantations would be restricted to seaside areas.

They are wanting to establish bigger trials in desert areas 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 an excellent, short-term solution to climate change.

“I think it is a great concept due to the fact that we are truly drawing out co2 from the environment – and it is completely different in between extracting and preventing.”

According to the researcher’s estimations the expenses of suppressing co2 by means of 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 however it has yet to be deployed commercially.

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

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

But other specialists in this area are not convinced. They point to the reality that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, specifically in Africa. But a number of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely successful in managing dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was as soon as viewed as the great, green hope the reality was really various.

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

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

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

“It is still somebody else’s land. Why go in and grow these enormous plantations to deal with a problem these people didn’t actually trigger?”

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related web links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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