<br>Desert ‘carbon farming’ to suppress CO2<br>
<br>1 August 2013<br>
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<br>By Matt McGrath<br>
<br>Environment correspondent, BBC News<br>
<br>Scientists state that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert areas might be a reliable way of suppressing emissions of CO2.<br>
<br>Dubbed “carbon farming”, researchers say the concept is economically competitive with modern carbon capture and storage jobs.<br>
<br>But critics say the concept could be have unforeseen, unfavorable impacts consisting of increasing food rates.<br>
<br>The research study has actually been published, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.<br>
<br>Seeds of change<br>
<br>Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is extremely well adapted to extreme conditions consisting of extremely dry deserts.<br>
<br>It is currently grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world since its seeds can produce oil.<br>
<br>In this study, German scientists revealed that a person hectare of jatropha could catch approximately 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment every year. The researchers based their price quotes on trees presently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.<br>
<br>”The outcomes are frustrating,” stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.<br>
<br>”There was good development, an excellent response from these plants. I feel there will be no issue trying it on a much larger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the beginning,” he said.<br>
<br>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 duration.<br>
<br>The scientists state that an important component of the plan would be the availability of desalination centers. This suggests that at first, any plantations would be confined to seaside locations.<br>
<br>They are wanting to develop larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that just offset the carbon that individuals produce, the planting of jatropha might be a good, short-term service to climate change.<br>
<br>”I believe it is a great concept due to the fact that we are really drawing out carbon dioxide from the environment – and it is completely various between drawing out and avoiding.”<br>
<br>According to the researcher’s computations the expenses of curbing co2 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).<br>
<br>A number of countries are presently trialling this innovation, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially.<br>
<br>Growing jatropha not just soaks up CO2 but has other benefits. The plants would assist to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be gathered for biofuel state the researchers, providing an economic return.<br>
<br>”Jatropha is ideal to be become biokerosene – it is even much better than biodiesel,” said Prof Becker.<br>
<br>But other professionals in this area are not persuaded. They point to the reality that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But numerous of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not very effective in handling dry conditions.<br>
<br>Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project manager for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was when viewed as the excellent, green hope the truth was extremely different.<br>
<br>”When jatropha was presented it was seen as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or limited land,” she said.<br>
<br>”But there are often individuals who need limited land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that location – we wouldn’t class the land as minimal.”<br>
<br>She explained that jatropha is extremely poisonous and can contaminate the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had issues about the fairness of the concept.<br>
<br>”It is still someone else’s land. Why enter and grow these huge plantations to handle an issue these individuals didn’t really trigger?”<br>
<br>Follow Matt on Twitter, external.<br>
<br>More on this story<br>
<br>’Carpets of for fuel. Video, 00:03:05’Carpets of seaweed’ grown for fuel<br>
<br>1 July 2013<br>
<br>Biofuels are ‘unreasonable strategy'<br>
<br>Published<br>
<br>15 April 2013<br>
<br>Related internet links<br>
<br>Universität Hohenheim<br>
<br>European Geosciences Union<br>
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