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 locations might be an efficient way of suppressing 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 might be have unexpected, negative impacts including increasing food costs.
The research study has been released, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.
Seeds of modification
Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is effectively adjusted to severe conditions including exceptionally arid deserts.
It is already grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world since its seeds can produce oil.
In this research study, German researchers revealed that a person hectare of jatropha could capture as much as 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment every year. The researchers based their estimates on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.
„The outcomes are frustrating,“ stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.
„There was good development, a good response from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much larger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the start,“ he stated.
According to the researchers a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would soak up all the CO2 produced by cars and trucks and trucks in Germany over a 20 year duration.
The scientists say that a critical element of the strategy would be the schedule of desalination centers. This suggests that initially, any plantations would be restricted to coastal locations.
They are hoping to develop bigger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that just balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, brief term service to climate modification.
„I think it is a great idea since we are truly drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – and it is completely various between extracting and preventing.“
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 strategies, such as the more high tech carbon capture and storage, external (CCS).
A number of nations are currently trialling this technology, external but it has yet to be released commercially.
Growing jatropha not just takes in CO2 but has other benefits. The plants would help to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be collected for biofuel say the researchers, offering a financial return.
„Jatropha is ideal to be become biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel,“ said Prof Becker.
But other experts in this location are not convinced. They point to the truth that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, particularly in Africa. But a number of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really successful in dealing with dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was once viewed as the terrific, green hope the truth was various.
„When jatropha was presented it was seen as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or limited land,“ she stated.
„But there are typically individuals who require marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location – we would not class the land as marginal.“
She explained that jatropha is highly hazardous and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she likewise had concerns about the fairness of the concept.
„It is still someone else’s land. Why enter and grow these massive plantations to handle a problem these people didn’t actually trigger?“
Follow Matt on Twitter, external.
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Related internet links
Universität Hohenheim
European Geosciences Union
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