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 say that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert areas could be an effective way of suppressing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed « carbon farming », scientists say the idea is financially competitive with modern carbon capture and storage jobs.

But critics state the idea might be have unexpected, unfavorable effects including increasing food prices.

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

Seeds of modification

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is really well adapted to severe conditions including 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 study, German scientists revealed that one hectare of jatropha might catch as much as 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment 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, » stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

« There was good growth, a great 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 start, » 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 automobiles and trucks in Germany over a twenty years period.

The researchers say that a crucial element of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination facilities. This implies that at first, any plantations would be confined to coastal locations.

They are wishing to establish larger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that just balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a good, short-term service to climate modification.

« I believe it is a good concept because we are really drawing out co2 from the environment – and it is completely various between extracting and preventing. »

According to the researcher’s calculations the expenses of suppressing carbon dioxide through 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 variety of nations are currently trialling this technology, external but it has yet to be released commercially.

Growing jatropha not only soaks up CO2 however has other benefits. The plants would help to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be collected for biofuel say the researchers, providing a financial return.

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

But other professionals in this area are not convinced. They point to the truth that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But a lot of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not very effective in handling dry conditions.

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

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

« But there are often 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 explained that jatropha is highly toxic and can the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also 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 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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