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

Dubbed “carbon farming”, researchers say the idea is economically competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage projects.

But critics say the concept might be have unpredicted, unfavorable effects consisting of driving up food prices.

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

Seeds of change

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is extremely well adjusted to harsh conditions including very arid 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 research study, German researchers revealed that one hectare of jatropha could record as much as 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment every year. The researchers based their price quotes on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.

“The outcomes are frustrating,” stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

“There was excellent growth, a good reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much bigger scale, for example 10 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 cars and trucks and trucks in Germany over a twenty years period.

The scientists state that a crucial element of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination centers. This means that at first, any plantations would be restricted to coastal areas.

They are wanting to establish bigger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that just balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha could be a good, brief term solution to climate change.

“I believe it is a good concept since we are truly extracting carbon dioxide from the environment – and it is entirely different in between extracting and preventing.”

According to the researcher’s computations the expenses of suppressing carbon dioxide via the planting of trees would be 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 number of nations are currently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be released commercially.

Growing jatropha not just absorbs CO2 but has other benefits. The plants would help to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be gathered for biofuel say the scientists, a financial return.

“Jatropha is perfect to be turned into biokerosene – it is even much better than biodiesel,” stated Prof Becker.

But other specialists in this location are not encouraged. They indicate the truth that in 2007 and 2008 big numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, particularly in Africa. But numerous of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really successful in managing dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was as soon as seen as the great, green hope the truth was extremely different.

“When jatropha was presented it was seen as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land,” she stated.

“But there are typically individuals who need 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 extremely hazardous 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 enormous plantations to handle an issue these people didn’t actually cause?”

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related web links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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