Desert 'carbon farming' to curb CO2
1 August 2013
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By Matt McGrath
Environment reporter, BBC News
Scientists state that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert areas could be an efficient way of suppressing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed "carbon farming", researchers state the concept is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage projects.
But critics say the idea could be have unanticipated, unfavorable impacts consisting of driving up food costs.
The research study has actually been published, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.
Seeds of modification
Jatropha curcas is a plant that originated in Central America and is extremely well adapted to harsh conditions consisting of incredibly dry deserts.
It is currently grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world due to the fact that its seeds can .
In this research study, German scientists showed that a person hectare of jatropha might catch as much as 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The researchers based their estimates 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 great development, an excellent response from these plants. I feel there will be no issue trying 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 3 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 an important component of the strategy would be the availability of desalination centers. This means that initially, any plantations would be restricted to seaside locations.
They are wanting to develop bigger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other schemes that just offset the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, brief term option to environment modification.
"I think it is an excellent concept due to the fact that we are actually extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - and it is totally various in between extracting and preventing."
According to the researcher's computations the expenses of curbing carbon dioxide via the planting of trees would be 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 countries are currently trialling this innovation, external however it has yet to be released commercially.
Growing jatropha not only soaks up 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, supplying an economic return.
"Jatropha is ideal to be developed into biokerosene - it is even much better than biodiesel," said Prof Becker.
But other specialists in this location are not convinced. They indicate the truth that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, particularly in Africa. But a number of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not very successful in dealing with dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was when seen as the great, green hope the reality was really different.
"When jatropha was presented it was seen as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or marginal land," she said.
"But there are typically people who need limited land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area - we would not class the land as marginal."
She mentioned that jatropha is highly harmful and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had issues 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 people 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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Desert 'carbon Farming' To Curb CO2
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