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Desert ‘carbon Farming’ To Curb CO2

Desert ‘carbon to curb CO2

1 August 2013

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By Matt McGrath

Environment reporter, BBC News

Scientists say that planting big numbers of jatropha trees in desert areas could be an efficient method of suppressing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed “carbon farming”, researchers state the idea is economically competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage tasks.

But critics state the idea could be have unpredicted, unfavorable impacts consisting of driving up food prices.

The research has actually 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 extreme conditions consisting of very dry deserts.

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

In this study, German scientists revealed that a person hectare of jatropha could capture approximately 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. The researchers based their estimates on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.

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

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

According to the scientists a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would take in all the CO2 produced by cars and trucks in Germany over a 20 year period.

The scientists state that a vital component of the strategy would be the schedule of desalination centers. This implies that at first, any plantations would be confined to coastal areas.

They are intending to establish larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other plans that just offset the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha might be an excellent, short-term solution to climate change.

“I believe it is a good concept due to the fact that we are truly drawing out co2 from the atmosphere – and it is totally different in between extracting and avoiding.”

According to the scientist’s estimations the expenses of suppressing carbon dioxide through the planting 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 innovation, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially.

Growing jatropha not just soaks up CO2 however has other benefits. The plants would assist to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be harvested for biofuel say the researchers, supplying 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 persuaded. They point to the reality that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, particularly in Africa. But a number of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really successful in handling dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was when seen as the terrific, green hope the truth was very different.

“When jatropha was introduced it was seen as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land,” she stated.

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

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

“It is still somebody else’s land. Why enter and grow these massive plantations to handle a problem these individuals didn’t in fact trigger?”