Desert 'carbon Farming' To Curb CO2

Desert 'carbon farming' to suppress CO2

1 August 2013

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By Matt McGrath

Environment correspondent, BBC News

Scientists state that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert locations could be an effective way of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed "carbon farming", scientists state the idea is financially competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage projects.

But critics state the concept could be have unforeseen, unfavorable impacts including driving up food prices.

The research has actually been released, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.

Seeds of change

Jatropha curcas is a plant that originated in Central America and is effectively adjusted to severe conditions including very dry deserts.

It is currently grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world because its seeds can produce oil.

In this research study, German scientists revealed that one hectare of jatropha might catch up to 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment every year. The researchers based their quotes on trees presently 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, a great action from these plants. I feel there will be no issue trying it on a much bigger scale, for instance ten thousand hectares in the start," he said.

According to the scientists a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would take in all the CO2 produced by automobiles and trucks in Germany over a 20 year duration.

The researchers say that a vital element of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination centers. This means that at first, any plantations would be confined to seaside areas.

They are hoping to develop bigger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that simply offset the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a good, short-term service to climate modification.

"I think it is a good concept since we are really drawing out co2 from the atmosphere - and it is entirely different in between drawing out and avoiding."

According to the researcher's calculations the expenses of curbing carbon dioxide by means of 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 countries are presently trialling this innovation, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially.

Growing jatropha not only soaks up CO2 however has other advantages. The plants would assist to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be harvested for biofuel state the scientists, offering a financial return.

"Jatropha is perfect to be become biokerosene - it is even better than biodiesel," said Prof Becker.

But other specialists in this area are not convinced. They point to the truth that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, specifically in Africa. But a lot of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really effective in coping with dry conditions.

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

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

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

She pointed out that jatropha is highly harmful and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had concerns about the fairness of the concept.

"It is still somebody else's land. Why go in and grow these huge plantations to handle a problem these individuals didn't really trigger?"

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