Desert 'carbon farming' to suppress 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 locations could be an effective method of suppressing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed "carbon farming", researchers state the idea is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage projects.
But critics say the idea might be have unforeseen, negative effects including driving up 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 extremely well adjusted to harsh conditions including extremely dry deserts.
It is currently grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world since its seeds can produce oil.
In this study, German researchers showed that a person hectare of jatropha could record approximately 25 tonnes of co2 from the environment every year. The researchers based their quotes 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 good growth, an excellent action from these plants. I feel there will be no issue attempting it on a much larger scale, for instance ten 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 automobiles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year period.
The researchers say that a crucial aspect of the strategy would be the schedule of desalination centers. This suggests that at first, any plantations would be confined to coastal areas.
They are wishing to establish larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that simply balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha could be an excellent, short-term solution to climate modification.
"I believe it is a great concept since we are truly extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - and it is totally different in between extracting and avoiding."
According to the scientist's estimations the costs of curbing co2 by means of the planting of trees would be in between 42 and 63 euros per tonne. This makes it competitive with other strategies, such as the more high tech carbon capture and storage, external (CCS).
A variety of countries are presently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be released commercially.
Growing jatropha not just takes in CO2 however has other advantages. The plants would help to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be for biofuel state the researchers, providing an economic return.
"Jatropha is perfect to be turned into biokerosene - it is even better than biodiesel," said Prof Becker.
But other professionals in this area are not encouraged. They point to the reality that in 2007 and 2008 big numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But much of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really effective in managing dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was once viewed as the excellent, green hope the truth was very various.
"When jatropha was introduced it was viewed as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or marginal land," she said.
"But there are typically individuals who need marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location - we wouldn't 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 idea.
"It is still someone else's land. Why go in and grow these huge plantations to handle an issue these people didn't actually trigger?"
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
ettadehamel072 edited this page 2025-01-11 19:53:14 +00:00