Desert 'carbon farming' to suppress CO2
1 August 2013
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By Matt McGrath
Environment reporter, BBC News
Scientists say that planting large numbers of jatropha trees in desert areas could be a reliable way of curbing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed "carbon farming", researchers state the concept is economically competitive with modern carbon capture and storage tasks.
But critics say the idea could be have unforeseen, negative effects consisting of driving up 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 really well adapted to harsh conditions consisting of exceptionally dry 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 showed that one hectare of jatropha could capture up to 25 tonnes of co2 from the environment every year. The researchers based their quotes on trees currently 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 excellent growth, a great reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no issue attempting it on a much larger scale, for instance ten thousand hectares in the start," he stated.
According to the scientists 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 say that a critical aspect of the plan would be the accessibility of desalination facilities. This implies that initially, any plantations would be confined to seaside locations.
They are intending to establish larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other schemes that simply balance out the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha could be an excellent, short term solution to climate change.
"I believe it is a great idea since we are really extracting carbon dioxide from the environment - and it is entirely various in between drawing out and preventing."
According to the researcher's estimations the expenses of curbing co2 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 currently trialling this technology, external but it has yet to be released commercially.
Growing jatropha not just takes in CO2 however has other benefits. The plants would assist to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be harvested for biofuel state the researchers, offering a financial return.
"Jatropha is perfect to be become biokerosene - it is even much better than biodiesel," stated Prof Becker.
But other experts in this location are not persuaded. They point to the truth that in 2007 and 2008 big numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But many of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really successful in dealing with dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while was once seen as the great, green hope the truth was very various.
"When jatropha was presented it was viewed as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or marginal land," she stated.
"But there are frequently individuals who need limited land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area - we would not class the land as minimal."
She mentioned that jatropha is extremely harmful and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she likewise 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 in fact trigger?"
Follow Matt on Twitter, external.
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Related internet links
Universität Hohenheim
European Geosciences Union
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Desert 'carbon Farming' To Curb CO2
eloyreardon09 edited this page 2025-01-12 07:01:26 +08:00