Jatropha Biodiesel

The biodiesel industry is constantly looking for alternatives to produce renewable fuel. Biodiesel can replace or be combined with traditional diesel (fossil fuel diesel) and it can be made of several plants, such as canola, sunflower and jatropha. Jatropha biofuel made headlines in the first half of the 2000’s as a very promising alternative. It is made from jatropha curcas, a species believed to be native to Central America and which can grow on wasteland. It grows quickly and can produce seeds for 50 years. Another positive aspect is that seeds have an oil content of 37% and it can burn as fuel without any need to be refined. It also has medical uses. Supporters claim its flame is smoke-free and has been tested successfully for simple diesel engines.

Jatropha biodiesel has already attracted the interest of major companies such as Daimler Chrysler, which has tested it for automotive use. Mercedes has road-tested jatropha biodiesel and three of its cars have covered 18,600 miles with biodiesel made from this plant.

But if jatropha biodiesel has not yet taken off as a wonder fuel, it’s because there are drawbacks. One of the problems is that no one knows exactly what the productivity rates of the plant are and how large-scale cultivation would impact on soil quality and the environment as a whole. Water is another issue as it requires five times more water per unit of energy than sugarcane and corn do. On the bright side as far as water is concerned is the fact that jatropha can grow in tropical climates with a lot of yearly rainfall (1000-1500mm) and apparently it would only require irrigation in the first year of its life cycle that lasts for decades.

Research has suggested that while it’s true that jatropha can thrive on degraded land with little water and poor nutrition, there is no evidence that the yield would be high – it may well be proportional to the quality of the soil. In that case, it may require high quality land and run into the same quagmire faced by most biofuel types: competition with food crops. The jury is out on jatropha biodiesel and perhaps as more precise assessments are carried out to find out how the plant fares over the course of its life cycle, then it may become a force to be reckoned with on a large scale. For now, it’s only a possibility.