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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 great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations might be an effective method of suppressing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed « carbon farming », researchers say the concept is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage projects.
But critics say the concept might be have unforeseen, unfavorable impacts consisting of driving up food rates.
The research study has actually been published, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.
Seeds of modification
Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from in Central America and is very well adapted to harsh 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 showed that one hectare of jatropha could catch up to 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, » said Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.
« There was great development, an excellent 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 three percent of the Arabian desert would absorb all the CO2 produced by cars and trucks and trucks in Germany over a twenty years period.
The researchers state that a vital component of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination centers. This suggests that at first, any plantations would be confined to coastal areas.
They are wanting to establish larger trials in of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that simply balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha could be an excellent, short-term option to environment modification.
« I believe it is a great concept due to the fact that we are really extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – and it is completely various in between drawing out and preventing. »
According to the scientist’s computations the costs of suppressing co2 via 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 number of nations are currently trialling this technology, external however 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 areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be gathered for biofuel state the scientists, providing a financial return.
« Jatropha is ideal to be become biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel, » said Prof Becker.
But other professionals in this location are not encouraged. They indicate the reality that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But much of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really successful in managing dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was once viewed as the fantastic, green hope the reality was extremely different.
« When jatropha was introduced it was viewed as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land, » she stated.
« But there are frequently people who require minimal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area – we wouldn’t class the land as limited. »
She explained that jatropha is extremely toxic and can pollute 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 massive plantations to handle a problem these people didn’t really trigger? »
Follow Matt on Twitter, external.
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Related web links
Universität Hohenheim
European Geosciences Union
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