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 a reliable way of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed "carbon farming", scientists say the concept is economically competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage jobs.

But critics say the concept could be have unforeseen, unfavorable effects including increasing food costs.

The research 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 already grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world due to the fact that its seeds can produce oil.

In this study, German researchers showed that one hectare of jatropha could record up to 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere 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," stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

"There was good development, an excellent action from these plants. I feel there will be no issue trying it on a much larger scale, for instance 10 thousand hectares in the start," he said.

According to the researchers a plantation that would cover 3 percent of the Arabian desert would take in all the CO2 produced by cars and trucks and trucks in Germany over a 20 year duration.

The scientists state that a vital aspect of the strategy would be the accessibility of desalination centers. This indicates 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 plans that simply balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha could be a great, short-term option to climate modification.

"I believe it is a good idea due to the fact that we are actually drawing out carbon dioxide from the environment - and it is entirely various between drawing out and avoiding."

According to the scientist's calculations the costs of suppressing co2 by means of 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 variety of nations are presently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be released commercially.

Growing jatropha not just absorbs CO2 however has other . The plants would help to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be collected for biofuel state the scientists, offering a financial return.

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

But other specialists in this location are not encouraged. They point to the fact 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 extremely successful in managing dry conditions.

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was once seen as the terrific, green hope the truth was really various.

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

"But there are often individuals who require limited 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 extremely harmful and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had concerns about the fairness of the idea.

"It is still somebody else's land. Why enter and grow these massive plantations to handle a problem these individuals didn't in fact cause?"

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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Related internet links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

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