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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 state that planting big numbers of jatropha trees in desert locations could be an efficient way of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed « carbon farming », state the idea is financially competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage tasks.

But critics say the idea could be have unanticipated, negative effects consisting of increasing food costs.

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

Seeds of modification

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is extremely well adjusted to extreme conditions consisting of exceptionally dry deserts.

It is currently grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world due to the fact that its seeds can produce oil.

In this study, German scientists showed that a person hectare of jatropha could catch approximately 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The scientists based their 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 good growth, a good reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much larger scale, for instance ten thousand hectares in the start, » he stated.

According to the scientists a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would absorb all the CO2 produced by vehicles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year period.

The researchers state that a vital aspect of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination facilities. This implies that at first, any plantations would be restricted to seaside areas.

They are wishing to develop larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other plans that just offset the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha could be a great, short-term option to environment modification.

« I think it is an excellent idea due to the fact that we are really extracting co2 from the atmosphere – and it is entirely different between drawing out and preventing. »

According to the researcher’s computations the costs of suppressing co2 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 number of nations are currently trialling this innovation, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially.

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

« Jatropha is perfect to be turned into biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel, » stated Prof Becker.

But other experts in this location are not persuaded. They point to the reality that in 2007 and 2008 big numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But a number of these endeavors 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 as soon as viewed as the terrific, green hope the truth was really various.

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

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

She mentioned that jatropha is extremely toxic and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had concerns about the fairness of the concept.

« It is still somebody else’s land. Why go in and grow these huge plantations to handle a problem these individuals didn’t in fact cause? »

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related internet links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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