Desert ‘carbon Farming’ To Curb CO2

Desert ‘carbon farming’ to suppress CO2

1 August 2013

Share

close panel

Share page

Copy link

About sharing

By Matt McGrath

Environment reporter, BBC News

Scientists state that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert areas might be an efficient method of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed “carbon farming”, researchers state the idea is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage jobs.

But critics say the concept might be have unexpected, unfavorable effects consisting of increasing food prices.

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

Seeds of change

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is extremely well adapted to extreme conditions consisting of extremely 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 revealed that one hectare of jatropha could record approximately 25 tonnes of co2 from the environment every year. The researchers based their estimates on trees presently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the .

“The results are overwhelming,” said Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

“There was good growth, a good response from these plants. I feel there will be no problem attempting it on a much larger scale, for instance 10 thousand hectares in the beginning,” he stated.

According to the scientists a plantation that would cover 3 percent of the Arabian desert would soak up all the CO2 produced by cars and trucks in Germany over a 20 year period.

The scientists state that a vital element of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination centers. This suggests that at first, any plantations would be restricted to seaside locations.

They are hoping to establish bigger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other plans that just balance out the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, brief term option to climate change.

“I think it is a great concept because we are actually extracting carbon dioxide from the environment – and it is totally different between drawing out and avoiding.”

According to the scientist’s estimations the costs of suppressing co2 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 variety of nations are presently trialling this innovation, external but it has yet to be deployed commercially.

Growing jatropha not just absorbs CO2 but has other advantages. The plants would assist to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be collected for biofuel state the researchers, offering an economic return.

“Jatropha is ideal to be become biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel,” stated Prof Becker.

But other specialists in this location are not persuaded. They point to the truth that in 2007 and 2008 large numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, specifically in Africa. But much of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not very effective in coping with dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was once seen as the terrific, green hope the truth was very different.

“When jatropha was introduced it was viewed as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land,” she said.

“But there are often individuals who require minimal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location – we wouldn’t class the land as minimal.”

She pointed out that jatropha is extremely hazardous and can pollute 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 enter and grow these massive plantations to deal with a problem these individuals didn’t in fact trigger?”

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

More on this story

‘Carpets of seaweed’ grown for fuel. Video, 00:03:05’Carpets of seaweed’ grown for fuel

1 July 2013

Biofuels are ‘irrational method’

Published

15 April 2013

Related internet links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

The BBC is not accountable for the material of external sites.