Desert 'carbon Farming' To Curb CO2 (#1) · Issues · Latanya Feez / mission-newenergy-limited

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 say that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations might be a reliable way of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed "carbon farming", scientists say the idea is economically competitive with modern carbon capture and storage jobs.

But critics state the idea might be have unforeseen, negative effects consisting of increasing food rates.

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

Seeds of modification

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is extremely well adapted to severe conditions consisting of 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 scientists showed that a person hectare of might capture as much as 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The researchers based their price quotes on trees currently 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 excellent development, a good action from these plants. I feel there will be no issue attempting it on a much larger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the beginning," he said.

According to the scientists 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 researchers state that a crucial element of the strategy would be the availability of desalination facilities. This suggests that at first, any plantations would be restricted to seaside areas.

They are wanting to establish bigger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that just offset the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, short-term service to environment change.

"I think it is a good idea because we are actually drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - and it is totally different between extracting and avoiding."

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 strategies, such as the more high tech carbon capture and storage, external (CCS).

A number of countries are currently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially.

Growing jatropha not only soaks up CO2 however has other benefits. The plants would assist to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be gathered for biofuel say the scientists, offering an economic return.

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

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

Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign manager for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was when viewed as the fantastic, green hope the truth was really different.

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

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

She mentioned that jatropha is highly toxic and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she likewise had issues about the fairness of the idea.

"It is still somebody else's land. Why go in and grow these enormous plantations to deal with a problem these individuals didn't in fact cause?"

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

More on this story

'Carpets of seaweed' grown for fuel. Video, 00:03:05'Carpets of seaweed' grown for fuel

1 July 2013

Biofuels are 'irrational technique'

Published

15 April 2013

Related internet links

Universität Hohenheim

European Geosciences Union

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Desert 'carbon farming' to suppress CO2 
 1 August 2013 
 Share 
 close panel 
 Share page 
 Copy link 
 About sharing 
 By Matt McGrath 
 Environment correspondent, BBC News 
 Scientists say that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations might be a reliable way of curbing emissions of CO2. 
 Dubbed "carbon farming", scientists say the idea is economically competitive with modern carbon capture and storage jobs. 
 But critics state the idea might be have unforeseen, negative effects consisting of increasing food rates. 
 The research study has actually been released, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics. 
 Seeds of modification 
 Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is extremely well adapted to severe conditions consisting of 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 scientists showed that a person hectare of might capture as much as 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The researchers based their price quotes on trees currently 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 excellent development, a good action from these plants. I feel there will be no issue attempting it on a much larger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the beginning," he said. 
 According to the scientists 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 researchers state that a crucial element of the strategy would be the availability of desalination facilities. This suggests that at first, any plantations would be restricted to seaside areas. 
 They are wanting to establish bigger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that just offset the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, short-term service to environment change. 
 "I think it is a good idea because we are actually drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - and it is totally different between extracting and avoiding." 
 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 strategies, such as the more high tech carbon capture and storage, external (CCS). 
 A number of countries are currently trialling this technology, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially. 
 Growing jatropha not only soaks up CO2 however has other benefits. The plants would assist to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be gathered for biofuel say the scientists, offering an economic return. 
 "Jatropha is ideal to be become biokerosene - it is even much better than biodiesel," stated Prof Becker. 
 But other specialists in this area are not encouraged. They point to the fact that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, specifically in Africa. But a number of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely successful in coping with dry conditions. 
 Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign manager for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was when viewed as the fantastic, green hope the truth was really different. 
 "When jatropha was introduced it was seen as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land," she stated. 
 "But there are frequently people who need minimal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area - we wouldn't class the land as marginal." 
 She mentioned that jatropha is highly toxic and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she likewise had issues about the fairness of the idea. 
 "It is still somebody else's land. Why go in and grow these enormous plantations to deal with a problem these individuals didn't in fact cause?" 
 Follow Matt on Twitter, external. 
 More on this story 
 'Carpets of seaweed' grown for fuel. Video, 00:03:05'Carpets of seaweed' grown for fuel 
 1 July 2013 
 Biofuels are 'irrational technique' 
 Published 
 15 April 2013 
 Related internet links 
 Universität Hohenheim 
 European Geosciences Union 
 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.