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Desert 'carbon Farming' To Curb CO2

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작성자 Jacob Shelly
댓글 0건 조회 1회 작성일 25-01-12 16:23

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Desert 'carbon farming' to suppress CO2

1 August 2013

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By Matt McGrath

Environment reporter, BBC News

Scientists say that planting big numbers of jatropha trees in desert areas could be an effective way of curbing emissions of CO2.

Dubbed "carbon farming", researchers state the concept is financially competitive with high-tech carbon capture and storage projects.

But critics say the concept might be have unforeseen, unfavorable impacts consisting of driving up food rates.

The research has been published, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.

Seeds of change

Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is effectively adapted to severe conditions consisting of very arid deserts.

It is already grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world because its seeds can produce oil.

In this study, German scientists showed that a person hectare of jatropha could catch approximately 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. The scientists based their price quotes on trees presently 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 excellent growth, a good response from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much bigger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the start," he stated.

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

The scientists state that a vital element of the strategy would be the of desalination facilities. This suggests that initially, any plantations would be confined to seaside locations.

They are wishing to establish larger trials in desert locations of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker says that unlike other plans that just balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be an excellent, short-term solution to environment modification.

"I believe it is a good concept because we are actually drawing out co2 from the environment - and it is totally different in between drawing out and avoiding."

According to the scientist's computations the expenses of curbing co2 via 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 countries are currently trialling this innovation, external but it has yet to be released commercially.

Growing jatropha not just absorbs CO2 but has other advantages. The plants would assist to make desert areas more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be gathered for biofuel state the scientists, offering an economic return.

"Jatropha is perfect to be turned into biokerosene - it is even better than biodiesel," said Prof Becker.

But other experts in this location are not persuaded. They point to the fact that in 2007 and 2008 great deals of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But much 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 supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was once viewed as the fantastic, green hope the reality was very 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 need marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area - we would not class the land as limited."

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 idea.

"It is still somebody else's land. Why enter and grow these massive plantations to deal with an issue these people didn't in fact trigger?"

Follow Matt on Twitter, external.

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