| <br>Desert 'carbon farming' to curb CO2<br><br><br>1 August 2013<br><br><br>Share<br><br><br>close panel<br><br><br>Share page<br><br><br>Copy link<br><br><br>About sharing<br><br><br>By Matt McGrath<br><br><br>Environment correspondent, BBC News<br><br><br>Scientists say that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert locations could be a reliable way of suppressing emissions of CO2.<br><br><br>Dubbed "carbon farming", researchers say the concept is economically competitive with state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage tasks.<br><br><br>But critics say the idea might be have unanticipated, negative impacts including driving up food prices.<br><br><br>The research has actually been released, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.<br><br><br>Seeds of change<br><br><br>Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is extremely well adjusted to harsh conditions consisting of incredibly arid deserts.<br><br><br>It is already grown as a biofuel, in some parts of the world because its seeds can produce oil.<br><br><br>In this research study, German researchers showed that one hectare of jatropha could capture approximately 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the environment every year. The scientists based their estimates on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.<br><br><br>"The outcomes are overwhelming," said Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.<br><br><br>"There was excellent growth, a good action from these plants. I feel there will be no problem attempting it on a much bigger scale, for example 10 thousand hectares in the beginning," he said.<br><br><br>According to the researchers a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would take in all the CO2 produced by automobiles and trucks in Germany over a twenty years duration.<br><br><br>The researchers say that a critical element of the plan would be the schedule of desalination facilities. This suggests that at first, any plantations would be confined to seaside locations.<br><br><br>They are wishing to develop bigger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other schemes that simply balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, short-term service to environment change.<br><br><br>"I believe it is a great concept due to the fact that we are really drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - and it is completely different in between extracting and avoiding."<br><br><br>According to the scientist's estimations the expenses of curbing carbon dioxide via the planting of trees would be in 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).<br><br><br>A variety of nations are presently trialling this innovation, external but it has yet to be released commercially.<br><br><br>Growing jatropha not only takes in CO2 however has other advantages. The plants would assist to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant's seeds can be collected for biofuel say the researchers, supplying a financial return.<br><br><br>"Jatropha is ideal to be turned into biokerosene - it is even much better than biodiesel," stated Prof Becker.<br><br><br>But other specialists in this location are not persuaded. They indicate the fact that in 2007 and 2008 large numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, especially in Africa. But much of these endeavors ended in tears,, external as the plants were not really effective in dealing with dry conditions.<br><br><br>Lucy Hurn is the biofuels project supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She says that while jatropha was when seen as the excellent, green hope the truth was extremely different.<br><br><br>"When jatropha was introduced it was viewed as a wonder crop, it would grow on scrubland or minimal land," she stated.<br><br><br>"But there are often individuals who need marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area - we wouldn't class the land as marginal."<br><br><br>She explained that jatropha is highly toxic and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she likewise had concerns about the fairness of the idea.<br><br><br>"It is still somebody else's land. Why go in and grow these massive plantations to handle an issue these individuals didn't in fact trigger?"<br><br><br>Follow Matt on Twitter, external.<br><br><br>More on this story<br><br><br>'Carpets of seaweed' grown for fuel. Video, 00:03:05'Carpets of seaweed' grown for fuel<br><br><br>1 July 2013<br><br><br>Biofuels are 'illogical method'<br><br><br>Published<br><br><br>15 April 2013<br><br><br>Related web links<br><br><br>Universität Hohenheim<br><br><br>European Geosciences Union<br> <br><br>The BBC is not responsible for the material of external websites.<br>
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