Study: Jatropha Plantations in Deserts Can Mitigate Climate Change

The large-scale planting of Jatropha curcas in hot, dry coastal areas around the world could help reduce atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, according to a study published in the journal Earth System Dynamics by a multi-disciplinary team of German researchers.

Using computer models and data from plantations in Egypt, India, and Madagascar, the team calculated that widespread cultivation of the resilient Jatropha, which can also be used in biofuel production, could capture 17 to 25 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare from the atmosphere annually. A plantation occupying only 3 percent of the Arabian Desert, for example, could absorb in a period of 20 years all the carbon dioxide produced by motor vehicles in Germany over the same period.

According to the researchers, this so-called carbon farming approach is very suitable for Jatropha because of its ability to grow in hot, dry regions which are unsuitable for food crops. With about one billion hectares suitable for carbon farming, the method has the potential to sequester a significant portion of the earth warming carbon dioxide dumped into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution.

In terms of cost, carbon farming was found to be competitive compared to the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technique. Desalination and irrigation requirements after few years of implementation can be supported by bioenergy produced by the plants (in the form of tree trimmings). Harvesting the Jatropha fruits for biofuel production would reduce the amount of carbon sequestered by the plantation as a whole but would be worthwhile in order to provide local employment and as an additional source of income for the plantation owners.