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 great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations might be a reliable way of curbing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed "carbon farming", researchers state the idea is financially competitive with modern carbon capture and storage jobs.
But critics say the idea could be have unforeseen, negative impacts including increasing food rates.
The research study has been published, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.
Seeds of change
Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is effectively adjusted to extreme conditions consisting of extremely arid 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 showed that one hectare of jatropha could record up to 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment 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," said Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.
"There was good development, a great reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much larger scale, for instance 10 thousand hectares in the start," he said.
According to the researchers a plantation that would cover 3 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 scientists state that a crucial element of the plan would be the accessibility of desalination centers. This means that at first, any plantations would be confined to coastal areas.
They are intending to establish larger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that just offset the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha could be a good, short-term solution to climate change.
"I believe it is a good concept due to the fact that we are truly extracting carbon dioxide from the environment - and it is completely various between drawing out and preventing."
According to the researcher's calculations the costs of suppressing carbon dioxide by means of the planting of trees would be 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 variety of nations are currently trialling this innovation, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially.
Growing jatropha not only takes in 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 say the scientists, supplying an economic return.
"Jatropha is ideal to be turned into biokerosene - it is even better than biodiesel," said Prof Becker.
But other experts in this location are not encouraged. They indicate the that in 2007 and 2008 large numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, particularly in Africa. But much of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely effective in coping with dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was once seen as the fantastic, green hope the truth was really various.
"When jatropha was introduced it was viewed as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land," she said.
"But there are frequently individuals who require minimal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area - we wouldn't class the land as marginal."
She pointed out that jatropha is extremely hazardous and can contaminate 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 massive plantations to handle an issue these individuals didn't in fact trigger?"
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Related internet links
Universität Hohenheim
European Geosciences Union
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