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 say that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert areas could be an effective method of suppressing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed « carbon farming », scientists say the idea is financially competitive with modern carbon capture and storage tasks.

But critics say the concept might be have unforeseen, unfavorable impacts including increasing food prices.

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

Seeds of modification

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

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

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

« The results are frustrating, » said Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

« There was good development, an excellent action from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much larger scale, for example 10 thousand hectares in the beginning, » he said.

According to the scientists 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 twenty years period.

The researchers say that a crucial component of the plan would be the availability of desalination facilities. This suggests that at first, any plantations would be restricted to coastal areas.

They are intending to develop bigger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that just offset the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha might be a good, short-term option to environment modification.

« I think it is a great concept since we are actually extracting carbon dioxide from the environment – and it is entirely different in between drawing out and avoiding. »

According to the researcher’s calculations the expenses of suppressing co2 by means of the planting of trees would be in 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 number of countries are currently trialling this innovation, external but it has yet to be deployed 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 collected for biofuel say the scientists, supplying an economic return.

« Jatropha is ideal to be become biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel, » said Prof Becker.

But other experts in this area are not persuaded. They point to the fact that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, particularly in Africa. But a lot of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not in managing dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was as soon as viewed as the fantastic, green hope the reality was extremely different.

« When jatropha was presented it was seen as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land, » she stated.

« But there are frequently people who need minimal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area – we wouldn’t class the land as marginal. »

She mentioned that jatropha is extremely harmful and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had concerns about the fairness of the concept.

« It is still somebody else’s land. Why go in and grow these huge plantations to deal with an issue these individuals didn’t in fact cause? »

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related web links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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