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 big numbers of jatropha trees in desert locations might be an efficient method of suppressing emissions of CO2.

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

But critics state the idea could be have unforeseen, negative effects including increasing food rates.

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

Seeds of modification

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is extremely well adjusted to severe conditions including extremely dry deserts.

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

In this research study, German researchers showed that a person hectare of jatropha could catch up to 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. The researchers based their quotes on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.

“The results are frustrating,” stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

“There was great growth, a good response from these plants. I feel there will be no issue 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 soak up all the CO2 produced by automobiles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year duration.

The researchers say that a critical aspect of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination facilities. This means that initially, any plantations would be restricted to coastal locations.

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

“I think it is a great concept since we are really drawing out co2 from the atmosphere – and it is entirely different between extracting and preventing.”

According to the scientist’s calculations the costs of suppressing carbon dioxide through the 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 variety of countries are currently trialling this technology, external but it has yet to be deployed commercially.

Growing jatropha not just takes in CO2 however has other benefits. The plants would assist 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 experts in this area are not encouraged. They point to the reality that in 2007 and 2008 large numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But numerous of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not very effective in handling dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was as soon as viewed as the excellent, green hope the truth was really different.

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

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

She mentioned that jatropha is highly toxic and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had concerns about the fairness of the idea.

“It is still somebody else’s land. Why enter and grow these enormous plantations to handle an issue these people didn’t really cause?”

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Related internet links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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