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 great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations could be an efficient way of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed „carbon farming“, scientists state the idea is financially competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage jobs.

But critics state the idea might be have unexpected, negative effects including increasing food costs.

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

Seeds of modification

Jatropha curcas is a plant that stemmed in Central America and is very well adjusted to severe conditions consisting of exceptionally arid 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 researchers revealed that a person hectare of jatropha could capture as much as 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. The scientists based their quotes on trees presently 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 growth, a good 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 start,“ 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 cars and trucks and trucks in Germany over a 20 year duration.

The scientists say that a crucial aspect of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination facilities. This indicates that at first, any plantations would be confined to seaside areas.

They are wanting to establish bigger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other schemes that simply offset the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha might be an excellent, short term option to environment modification.

„I believe it is a good idea since we are really drawing out carbon dioxide from the environment – and it is completely different between drawing out and avoiding.“

According to the researcher’s calculations the costs 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 strategies, 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 takes in 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, supplying a financial return.

„Jatropha is ideal to be developed into biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel,“ stated Prof Becker.

But other specialists in this location are not encouraged. They indicate the fact that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, particularly in Africa. But numerous of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely successful in dealing with dry conditions.

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

„When jatropha was presented it was viewed as a wonder 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 location – we would not class the land as limited.“

She mentioned that jatropha is extremely hazardous and can 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 deal with an issue these individuals didn’t actually cause?“

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related web links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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