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 state that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations could be a reliable method of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed "carbon farming", researchers say the idea is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage projects.

But critics state the idea might be have unpredicted, unfavorable impacts including increasing 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 effectively adapted to severe conditions including very arid deserts.

It is already 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 might record up to 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment 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 excellent growth, a great reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no issue attempting it on a much larger scale, for example ten 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 automobiles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year period.

The researchers state that a critical aspect of the plan would be the accessibility of desalination centers. This implies that at first, any plantations would be restricted to seaside areas.

They are hoping to develop larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other schemes that simply offset the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha could be a good, brief term option to environment change.

"I think it is an excellent idea because we are really drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - and it is entirely various between extracting and preventing."

According to the scientist's calculations the costs of suppressing carbon dioxide through the planting of trees would be 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 nations are presently trialling this innovation, external but it has yet to be deployed commercially.

Growing jatropha not only soaks up CO2 however has other benefits. 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 ideal to be turned into biokerosene - it is even better than biodiesel," stated Prof Becker.

But other specialists in this area are not convinced. They indicate the fact that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, specifically in Africa. But a number of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely effective in dealing with dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project manager for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was as soon as seen as the great, green hope the reality was really different.

"When jatropha was presented it was viewed as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land," she said.

"But there are often individuals who require minimal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area - we wouldn't class the land as minimal."

She explained that jatropha is extremely harmful and can pollute 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 huge plantations to handle a problem these individuals didn't in fact trigger?"

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