Anumakonda Jagadeesh Facebook 16 December 2014

CORBON SEQUESTRATION
With the increased concern of global greenhouse gas
emissions, scientists are researching ways to limit the
amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere in an effort to
mitigate the atmospheric CO2 concentration increase.
Currently there is a global push to limit CO2 emissions
through Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies.
These large projects require strategic planning and public
acceptance for them to be successful.
The easiest and most effect way to reduce carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere is to grow CAM plants on a massive
scale.
Crassulacean acid metabolism, also known as CAM
photosynthesis, is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved
in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions In a
plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain
shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but
open at night to collect carbon dioxide (CO2). The CO2 is
stored as the four-carbon acidmalate, and then used
during photosynthesis during the day. The pre-collected
CO2 is concentrated around the enzyme RuBisCO,
increasing photosynthetic efficiency. Agave and Opuntia
are the best CAM Plants. Researchers find that the agave
plant will serve as a biofuel crop to produce ethanol.
"Agave has a huge advantage, as it can grow in marginal
or desert land, not on arable land," and therefore would
not displace food crops, says Oliver Inderwildi, at the
University of Oxford.The majority of ethanol produced in
the world is still derived from food crops such as corn and
sugarcane. Speculators have argued for years now that

using such crops for fuel can drive up the price of food.
Agave, however, can grow on hot dry land with a highyield and low environmental impact. The researchers
proposing the plants use have modeled a facility in
Jalisco, Mexico, which converts the high sugar content of
the plant into ethanol. Another plant of great use is
OPUNTIA for biogas production. The cultivation of
nopal((OPUNTIA FICUS-INDICA), a type of cactus, is one
of the most important in Mexico. According to Rodrigo
Morales, Chilean engineer, Wayland biomass, installed on
Mexican soil, allows you to generate inexhaustible clean
energy. Through the production of biogas, it can serve
as a raw material more efficiently, by example and by
comparison with jatropha. Wayland Morales, head of
Elqui Global Energy argues that an acre of cactus
produces 43 200 m3 of biogas or the equivalent in
energy terms to 25,000 liters of diesel. With the same
land planted with jatropha, he says, it will produce 3,000
liters of biodiesel. Another of the peculiarities of the nopal
is biogas which is the same molecule of natural gas, but
its production does not require machines or devices of
high complexity. Also, unlike natural gas, contains
primarily methane (75%), carbon dioxide (24%) and
other minor gases (1%), so it has advantages from the
technical point of view since it has the same capacity
heat but is cleaner, he says, and as sum datum its
calorific value is 7,000 kcal/m3. In the fields where
Jatropha is being grown,Agave and Opuntia can be grown
as Inter cropping.
India has crores of hectares of waste lands. In these
waste lands CAM plants like Agave and Opuntia which are
of care free growth,regenerative can be planted. With
these inputs biogas for power as well as biofuel units can

be set up locally. Locally biogas can be supplied through

pipes.
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC ZONES
Just as we have SEZ we can have Agricultural Economic
Zones set up in waste lands. Each unemployed educated
youth can be given training in agricultural methods and
allotted 10 acres. 10 such people can form a co-operative
and can raise Agave and Opuntia. Biogas for cooking and
biogas for power besides biofuel can be set up locally.
This way vast waste land can be brought under
cultivation besides providing employment to youth. This
is in line with Gandhian philosophy of AGRO INDUSTRIES
utilising local resources and resourcefulness.
Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
Photos: Internet

Agave

Opuntia