Desert carbon Farming To Curb CO2
Desert 'carbon farming' to curb CO2
1 August 2013
Share
close panel
Share page
Copy link
About sharing
By Matt McGrath
Environment reporter, BBC News
Scientists say that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert areas might be a reliable method of suppressing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed "carbon farming", scientists say the idea is financially competitive with modern carbon capture and storage tasks.
But critics state the idea might be have unforeseen, unfavorable impacts including driving up food costs.
The research has actually been released, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.
Seeds of modification
Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is effectively adapted to extreme conditions including extremely 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 scientists showed that one hectare of jatropha could capture up to 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The scientists based their estimates on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.
"The outcomes are frustrating," said Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.
"There was good development, an excellent action from these plants. I feel there will be no issue trying it on a much bigger scale, for instance 10 thousand hectares in the start," he stated.
According to the scientists a plantation that would cover 3 percent of the Arabian desert would absorb all the CO2 produced by vehicles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year duration.
The researchers say that a of the plan would be the accessibility of desalination facilities. This implies that initially, any plantations would be restricted to seaside locations.
They are hoping to develop larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other plans that simply balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a good, short-term solution to environment modification.
"I think it is a good idea because we are actually drawing out co2 from the atmosphere - and it is completely different between extracting and preventing."
According to the researcher's calculations the costs of curbing 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 variety of nations are presently trialling this technology, external but it has yet to be deployed commercially.
Growing jatropha not just takes in CO2 but has other benefits. The plants would help to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be collected for biofuel say the researchers, providing an economic return.
"Jatropha is perfect to be developed into biokerosene - it is even much better than biodiesel," said Prof Becker.
But other specialists in this location are not encouraged. They indicate the fact that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, specifically in Africa. But much of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely successful in coping with dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign manager for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was as soon as seen as the fantastic, green hope the reality was very various.
"When jatropha was introduced it was seen as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land," she stated.
"But there are frequently individuals who require minimal 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 hazardous and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she likewise 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 individuals didn't really trigger?"
Follow Matt on Twitter, external.
More on this story
'Carpets of seaweed' grown for fuel. Video, 00:03:05'Carpets of seaweed' grown for fuel
1 July 2013
Biofuels are 'irrational strategy'
Published
15 April 2013
Related internet links
Universität Hohenheim
European Geosciences Union
The BBC is not accountable for the material of external sites.
