Desert ‘carbon Farming’ To Curb CO2

Desert ‘carbon farming’ to suppress CO2

1 August 2013

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By Matt McGrath

Environment correspondent, BBC News

Scientists state that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert locations might be a reliable method of curbing emissions of CO2.

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

But critics say the idea might be have unanticipated, negative impacts consisting of increasing food rates.

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 really well adapted to severe conditions including incredibly arid deserts.

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

In this research study, German scientists showed that one hectare of jatropha could record as much as 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere 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 frustrating,” stated Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

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

According to the scientists 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 element of the strategy would be the availability of desalination facilities. This means that initially, any plantations would be restricted to seaside locations.

They are intending to develop bigger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that simply offset the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha could be a good, brief term solution to climate modification.

“I believe it is an excellent concept since we are truly extracting co2 from the environment – and it is totally different in between drawing out and avoiding.”

According to the scientist’s estimations the costs of curbing carbon dioxide through the planting of trees would be between 42 and 63 euros per tonne. This makes it competitive with other techniques, 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 only soaks up 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 researchers, providing an economic return.

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

But other professionals in this location are not convinced. They point to 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 successful in coping with dry conditions.

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

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

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

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 someone else’s land. Why go in and grow these enormous plantations to handle an issue these people didn’t actually cause?”

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