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

Dubbed “carbon farming”, researchers say the idea is financially competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage jobs.

But critics say the idea could be have unpredicted, unfavorable effects including increasing food prices.

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

Seeds of change

Jatropha curcas is a plant that originated in Central America and is extremely well adapted to severe conditions including incredibly dry deserts.

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

In this study, German researchers revealed that one hectare of jatropha could record as much as 25 tonnes of co2 from the environment every year. The scientists based their quotes on trees presently 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 great development, a great response 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 stated.

According to the scientists a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would soak up all the CO2 produced by vehicles and trucks in Germany over a twenty years duration.

The scientists say that a vital component of the plan would be the accessibility of desalination facilities. This suggests that initially, any plantations would be confined to coastal areas.

They are wishing to develop bigger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that just balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be an excellent, short-term solution to environment change.

“I think it is a good concept because we are really drawing out carbon dioxide from the environment – and it is completely different between extracting and preventing.”

According to the scientist’s computations the expenses of curbing carbon dioxide through 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 nations are currently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be released commercially.

Growing jatropha not only absorbs CO2 however has other benefits. The plants would help to make desert locations more habitable, and the seeds can be gathered for biofuel say the researchers, offering an economic return.

“Jatropha is perfect to be developed into biokerosene – it is even much better than biodiesel,” stated Prof Becker.

But other specialists in this location are not convinced. They indicate the reality that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But many of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely effective in managing dry conditions.

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

“When jatropha was presented it was seen as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or limited land,” she stated.

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

She mentioned 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 in fact trigger?”

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related internet links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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