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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 correspondent, BBC News
Scientists say that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert areas could be a reliable method of suppressing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed “carbon farming”, scientists say the concept is financially competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage projects.
But critics state the concept might be have unpredicted, negative impacts consisting of increasing food prices.
The research study has actually been published, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.
Seeds of modification
Jatropha curcas is a plant that stemmed in Central America and is adjusted to harsh conditions consisting of extremely arid deserts.
It is already grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world since its seeds can produce oil.
In this research study, German researchers revealed that one hectare of jatropha could catch up to 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 results are overwhelming,” said Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.
“There was excellent development, a great reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no issue attempting it on a much bigger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the beginning,” he said.
According to the researchers a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would take in all the CO2 produced by vehicles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year period.
The scientists say that a crucial element of the plan would be the availability of desalination facilities. This implies that at first, any plantations would be restricted to coastal locations.
They are wanting to establish larger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other schemes that just balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha could be a good, brief term option to climate modification.
“I think it is an excellent concept since we are really extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – and it is completely different in between drawing out and avoiding.”
According to the scientist’s estimations the expenses of suppressing carbon dioxide through 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 nations are currently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be released commercially.
Growing jatropha not just soaks up CO2 however has other benefits. The plants would help to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be gathered for biofuel state the scientists, offering an economic return.
“Jatropha is perfect to be become biokerosene – it is even much better than biodiesel,” stated Prof Becker.
But other professionals in this area are not convinced. They point to the reality that in 2007 and 2008 great deals 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 extremely successful in handling dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was once seen as the excellent, green hope the truth 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 frequently individuals who require marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area – we wouldn’t class the land as minimal.”
She mentioned that jatropha is highly harmful 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 huge plantations to handle an issue these people didn’t actually cause?”
Follow Matt on Twitter, external.
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Related internet links
Universität Hohenheim
European Geosciences Union
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