Desert ‘carbon Farming’ To Curb CO2

farming’ to curb 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 areas might be a reliable way of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed « carbon farming », scientists say the idea is economically competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage projects.

But critics state the concept could be have unanticipated, negative impacts including driving up food prices.

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

Seeds of change

Jatropha curcas is a plant that stemmed in Central America and is extremely well adapted to extreme conditions including incredibly arid deserts.

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

In this research study, German scientists revealed that a person hectare of jatropha could record up to 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The scientists based their estimates on trees presently 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 good development, a good response from these plants. I feel there will be no issue attempting it on a much bigger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the beginning, » he stated.

According to the researchers 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 duration.

The researchers say that an important element of the strategy would be the availability of desalination centers. This means that initially, any plantations would be confined to coastal locations.

They are wishing to establish larger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that simply balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be an excellent, short-term option to environment modification.

« I believe it is a great concept due to the fact that we are really drawing out carbon dioxide from the environment – and it is completely different in between drawing out and preventing. »

According to the researcher’s estimations the costs of curbing carbon dioxide via the planting of trees would be in between 42 and 63 euros per tonne. This makes it competitive with other methods, such as the more high tech carbon capture and storage, external (CCS).

A variety of countries are presently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially.

Growing jatropha not only takes in CO2 but has other benefits. The plants would assist to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be gathered for biofuel say the researchers, offering a financial return.

« Jatropha is ideal to be become biokerosene – it is even much better than biodiesel, » said Prof Becker.

But other specialists in this location are not convinced. They indicate the reality that in 2007 and 2008 big numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But numerous of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not very successful in managing dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project manager for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was once seen as the terrific, green hope the reality was very different.

« When jatropha was presented it was seen as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or marginal land, » she said.

« But there are often individuals who need minimal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location – we would not class the land as minimal. »

She explained that jatropha is highly 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 someone else’s land. Why go in and grow these enormous plantations to deal with an issue 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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