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Desert ‘carbon Farming’ To Curb CO2
Desert ‘carbon farming’ to curb CO2
1 August 2013
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By Matt McGrath
Environment reporter, BBC News
Scientists state that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert areas might be an effective method of curbing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed “carbon farming”, scientists state the idea is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage projects.
But critics say the concept could be have unexpected, negative impacts including increasing food rates.
The research 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 effectively adapted to harsh conditions including incredibly arid deserts.
It is already 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 might record as much as 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. The scientists based their estimates on trees presently 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 development, a great reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no problem attempting it on a much larger scale, for instance 10 thousand hectares in the start,” he said.
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 duration.
The scientists state that an important element of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination facilities. This indicates that initially, any plantations would be confined to coastal areas.
They are hoping to establish larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that simply offset the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha might be a good, short term solution to climate modification.
“I believe it is a good concept due to the fact that we are really extracting co2 from the environment – and it is totally various in between drawing out and preventing.”
According to the researcher’s calculations the expenses of suppressing co2 through the planting of trees would be in between 42 and 63 euros per tonne. This makes it competitive with other techniques, such as the more high tech carbon capture and storage, external (CCS).
A variety of countries 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 assist to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be collected for biofuel state the researchers, providing an economic return.
“Jatropha is ideal to be developed into biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel,” said Prof Becker.
But other specialists in this location are not encouraged. They point to the truth that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, specifically in Africa. But much of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really effective in managing dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign manager for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was once viewed as the terrific, green hope the truth was really 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 often individuals who need limited land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location – we wouldn’t class the land as minimal.”
She pointed out 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 of the idea.
“It is still someone else’s land. Why enter and grow these massive plantations to deal with an issue these individuals didn’t in fact trigger?”
Follow Matt on Twitter, external.
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Related internet links
Universität Hohenheim
European Geosciences Union
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