Desert 'carbon Farming' To Curb CO2

Desert 'carbon farming' to curb CO2

1 August 2013

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By Matt McGrath

Environment correspondent, BBC News

Scientists state that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert areas could be an efficient way of suppressing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed "carbon farming", scientists state the idea is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage jobs.

But critics say the concept might be have unanticipated, unfavorable impacts including driving up food costs.

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

Seeds of modification

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is effectively adjusted to extreme conditions including exceptionally dry 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 showed that one hectare of jatropha could record approximately 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The researchers based their price quotes on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.

"The outcomes are overwhelming," said Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

"There was good growth, a great reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no problem attempting 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 take in all the CO2 produced by vehicles and trucks in Germany over a twenty years period.

The researchers say that a critical aspect of the plan would be the schedule of desalination facilities. This implies that at first, any plantations would be confined to seaside locations.

They are wanting to develop larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that simply offset the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a good, short-term service to environment change.

"I believe it is an excellent concept because we are truly drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - and it is totally different in between extracting and avoiding."

According to the scientist's estimations the costs of suppressing carbon dioxide via 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 variety of countries are currently trialling this technology, external but it has yet to be released commercially.

Growing jatropha not only absorbs CO2 but has other benefits. The plants would assist to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be gathered for biofuel state the scientists, providing a financial return.

"Jatropha is ideal to be developed into biokerosene - it is even much better than biodiesel," stated Prof Becker.

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

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

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

"But there are typically people who require limited land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location - we wouldn't class the land as marginal."

She explained that jatropha is highly toxic and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had issues about the fairness of the idea.

"It is still someone else's land. Why enter and grow these massive plantations to handle a problem these people didn't in fact trigger?"

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