Desert 'carbon Farming' To Curb CO2

Desert 'carbon farming' to suppress CO2

1 August 2013

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By Matt McGrath

Environment reporter, BBC News

Scientists say that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert locations might be an effective way of suppressing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed "carbon farming", researchers state the idea is economically competitive with modern carbon capture and storage tasks.

But critics say the concept could be have unforeseen, negative effects consisting of increasing food rates.

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 adapted to extreme conditions including extremely 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 research study, German scientists revealed that one hectare of jatropha could record as much as 25 tonnes of co2 from the environment every year. The researchers based their price quotes on trees presently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.

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

"There was excellent growth, a great action from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much bigger scale, for instance ten thousand hectares in the beginning," he said.

According to the scientists 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 20 year period.

The researchers say that a crucial component of the plan would be the schedule of desalination facilities. This suggests that initially, any plantations would be confined to seaside areas.

They are wanting to develop bigger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other schemes that simply balance out the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha could be a great, short-term option to environment change.

"I think it is an excellent concept since we are really extracting carbon dioxide from the environment - and it is totally different between drawing out and preventing."

According to the researcher's computations the costs of curbing co2 via the planting of trees would be 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 currently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially.

Growing jatropha not just takes in CO2 however has other benefits. The plants would assist to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be collected for biofuel state the scientists, supplying a financial return.

"Jatropha is perfect to be become biokerosene - it is even better than biodiesel," stated Prof Becker.

But other professionals in this area are not persuaded. They point to the fact that in 2007 and 2008 large numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, specifically in Africa. But a number of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really effective in managing dry conditions.

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

"When jatropha was presented it was viewed as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or limited land," she stated.

"But there are frequently individuals who need marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location - we wouldn't class the land as minimal."

She mentioned that jatropha is extremely poisonous and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she likewise had issues about the fairness of the idea.

"It is still somebody else's land. Why go in and grow these enormous plantations to handle a problem these people didn't really cause?"

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