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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 correspondent, BBC News
Scientists say that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert areas could be an effective way of suppressing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed “carbon farming”, scientists state the concept is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage projects.
But critics state the idea could be have unpredicted, negative effects including driving up food rates.
The research study has actually been published, 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 consisting of extremely dry deserts.
It is currently grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world because its seeds can produce oil.
In this study, German researchers revealed that one hectare of jatropha could record approximately 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The researchers based their price quotes on trees presently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.
“The outcomes are overwhelming,” stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.
“There was excellent development, a good response from these plants. I feel there will be no problem attempting it on a much bigger 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 absorb all the CO2 produced by automobiles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year period.
The scientists state that a vital component of the plan would be the schedule of desalination centers. This means that initially, any plantations would be confined to seaside locations.
They are wanting to develop bigger trials in desert locations 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 environment change.
“I think it is a great idea due to the fact that we are truly drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – and it is completely various in between drawing out and avoiding.”
According to the scientist’s computations the expenses of suppressing co2 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 number of nations are currently trialling this innovation, external but it has yet to be deployed commercially.
Growing jatropha not only soaks up CO2 but has other advantages. The plants would assist to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be collected for biofuel say the researchers, offering an economic return.
“Jatropha is ideal to be become biokerosene – it is even much better than biodiesel,” said Prof Becker.
But other specialists in this location are not encouraged. They indicate the truth 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 once seen as the fantastic, green hope the reality was extremely various.
“When jatropha was presented it was viewed as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or limited land,” she stated.
“But there are typically individuals who require limited land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location – we would not class the land as marginal.”
She mentioned that jatropha is highly hazardous and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had issues about the fairness of the concept.
“It is still someone else’s land. Why go in and grow these enormous plantations to handle an issue these people didn’t really trigger?”
Follow Matt on Twitter, external.
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Related internet links
Universität Hohenheim
European Geosciences Union
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