Desert 'carbon farming' to curb CO2
1 August 2013
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By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, BBC News
Scientists state that planting big numbers of jatropha trees in desert areas could be an effective method of curbing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed "carbon farming", scientists state the idea is economically competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage projects.
But critics state the idea might be have unexpected, unfavorable impacts including driving up food prices.
The research has been released, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.
Seeds of change
Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from in Central America and is extremely well adjusted to extreme conditions consisting of exceptionally 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 might capture approximately 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The scientists based their quotes on trees currently 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 great growth, an excellent response from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much larger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the beginning," he stated.
According to the researchers a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would soak up all the CO2 produced by automobiles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year period.
The scientists state that a vital element of the plan would be the schedule of desalination facilities. This means that at first, any plantations would be restricted to seaside locations.
They are wanting to develop bigger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other schemes that simply offset the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha could be a good, brief term solution to climate modification.
"I think it is a great idea because we are really drawing out co2 from the atmosphere - and it is entirely various in between extracting and avoiding."
According to the scientist's estimations the costs of suppressing co2 by means of 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 variety of countries are currently trialling this innovation, external however it has yet to be released commercially.
Growing jatropha not only absorbs CO2 but has other advantages. The plants would help to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be harvested for biofuel say the scientists, offering a financial return.
"Jatropha is perfect to be turned into biokerosene - it is even better than biodiesel," said Prof Becker.
But other specialists in this area are not convinced. They point to the reality that in 2007 and 2008 large numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But a number of these ventures ended in tears,, as the plants were not very successful in dealing with dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was when seen as the excellent, green hope the reality was extremely various.
"When jatropha was introduced it was seen as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land," she said.
"But there are often people who require limited land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location - we wouldn't class the land as marginal."
She pointed out that jatropha is extremely poisonous and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had concerns about the fairness of the idea.
"It is still somebody else's land. Why enter and grow these massive plantations to deal with an issue these people didn't in fact cause?"
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
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