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 a reliable method of suppressing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed «carbon farming», researchers state the concept is economically competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage tasks.

But critics say the idea could be have unexpected, unfavorable effects consisting of increasing food rates.

The research study 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 severe conditions including extremely arid deserts.

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

In this research study, German scientists showed that one hectare of jatropha might catch up to 25 tonnes of co2 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 outcomes are frustrating,» stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

«There was great development, an excellent action from these plants. I feel there will be no issue trying it on a much bigger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the start,» he stated.

According to the researchers a plantation that would cover 3 percent of the Arabian desert would take in all the CO2 produced by cars and trucks and trucks in Germany over a twenty years duration.

The scientists state that a critical aspect of the plan would be the schedule of desalination facilities. This indicates that at first, any plantations would be restricted to seaside areas.

They are wishing to establish larger trials in desert areas 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 great, brief term option to environment modification.

«I think it is a good concept since we are truly extracting co2 from the atmosphere — and it is entirely different between extracting and avoiding.»

According to the researcher’s computations the costs of suppressing 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 presently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be released commercially.

Growing jatropha not only soaks up CO2 but has other advantages. The plants would assist to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be harvested for biofuel say the scientists, offering an economic return.

«Jatropha is ideal to be developed into biokerosene — it is even better than biodiesel,» stated Prof Becker.

But other specialists 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 many of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely successful in managing dry conditions.

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

«When jatropha was introduced it was viewed as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or marginal land,» she stated.

«But there are typically people who need limited land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area — we would not class the land as limited.»

She pointed out that jatropha is extremely hazardous and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she likewise had issues about the fairness of the concept.

«It is still someone else’s land. Why go in and grow these enormous plantations to deal with a problem these individuals didn’t really cause?»

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related web links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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