Jatropha
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Bioenergy > Feedstocks > Biodiesel feedstocks > Non-edible oil plants > Jatropha
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Jatropha (sometimes spelled "jathropha") is a genus of approximately 175 succulents, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas L.), from the family Euphorbiaceae. Plants from the genus natively occur in Africa, North America, and the Caribbean and is now found throught the tropics. Jatropha curcas, also called physic nut, is used to produce the non-edible Jatropha oil, for making candles and soap, and as an ingredient in the production of biodiesel. It is a drought-resistant perennial, growing well in marginal/poor soil and has a very high oil yield/hectare. It is easy to establish, grows relatively quickly and lives, producing seeds for 50 years. It has been used for years as a hedge plant to protect food crops from animals and livestock.
- Since Jatropha can be grown on marginal land and around existing gardens and fields, it does not necessarily compete for cropland, unlike edible-oil [feedstocks] like soy-beans or oil palm. These qualities have made it a prime candidate for a biodiesel feedstock. While large scale jatropha plantations are being created in India, Burma, Nicaragua, Africa and elsewhere, the lack of a history of large-scale commercial cultivation, as opposed to edible-oil plants like soy-beans, means that many questions remain about the efficiency and viability of large-scale jatropha-oil production. (sources: Society for Rural Initiative for Promotion of Herbal (SRIPHL), Wikipedia)
- Jatropha is a major potential bioenergy crop in Burma/Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Africa, China and India.
Contents |
History
Sustainability
A "Sustainable Jatropha Initiative" has been proposed, to be modeled on the example of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
Environmental sustainability
- Jatropha has been classified as an invasive species in Western Australia and its use in biodiesel production has been banned. (source: Department of Agriculture Western Australia)
Greenhouse gases
A jatropha tree absorbs around 8 kg. of CO2 every year. 2500 trees can be planted in a hectare, thus, resulting in 20 tonnes of CO2 sequestration per year for the lifetime of 40-50 years. Moreover, each hectare produces an average of 1000 gallons of biodiesel per year and 3500 kg. of biomass. The usage of biodiesel results in the reduction of 3.2 kg. CO2/ liter produced by diesel. At the 78% efficiency, biodiesel will reduce in 2.5 kg. of CO2/per liter or 9.2 tons of CO2 for every hectare of plantation. The biomass produced after the oil extraction will further result in carbon reduction based on the amount of electricity generated from it.
Organic fertilizers such as cow manure can be used as the fertilizer to maximize the GHGs reduction by encouraging farmers to compost cow dung which otherwise will be a source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. More information can be obtained from plantjatropha.
Biodiversity
Pollution
Land degradation
- Jatropha, as a perennial tree which grows well on marginal or degraded land, can be used to stop land degradation and reverse deforestation. (source: need source)
- The seed cake, which is produced after oil is pressed from Jatropha seeds is rich in nutrients and can be made into biofertilizer to improve soil qualities.(source: need source)
Social sustainability
Look here for information on employment, job creation, adverse effects on indigenous peoples, gender issues, etc.
Technology/Science
Properties
Technology
Economics/Policy
Jatropha in rural development
- The "Jatropha System"
- The Jatropha Energy System: An Integrated Approach To Decentralized And Sustainable Energy Production At The Village Level by Laurens Rademakers and Giovanni Venturini Del Greco, ISF Firenze.
- Jatropha plantation is labor intensive hence creating jobs for poor indigenous people who otherwise are forced from their ancestral lands and displaced, having to live in extreme poor conditions in city slums. The co-operatives can be be setup with the farmers with small piece of unused/wasteland for the joint plantation. The oilseeds processing can be setup for every small region thereby providing employment locally. The by-products such as seedcake can be utilized locally either to fulfill the energy needs or making high value manure for organic farming. The local diesel vehicles or diesel generators can be modified to use the filtered oil directly to maintain the clean environment conditions. The leftover oil can then be collected from these units to process bio-diesel in a centralized location. (source: plantjatropha)
Reports
- Jatropha project in Ghana: How to Restore Vegetation and Ecosystems Along Major Man-made Lakes and Ways to Raise Finance presentation by Mr. Onua Amoah (CEO, Anuanom Industrial Bio Products Ltd, Ghana), UNCTAD Conference.
- Size does matter - The possibilities of cultivating Jatropha curcas for biofuel production in developing countries. (December 2006) This research report explores possible impacts of Jatropha biofuel cultivation on various scales on food security in developing countries. Contains a lot of references and background material, as well as a number of case studies.
Events
- 17-18 September 2008, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania: Biofuels Markets East Africa. (Themes: jatropha, East Africa, markets, investment)
- 14-15 May 2008, Madrid, Spain: Monographic conference on Jatropha curcas. (Themes: Jatropha)
- 9-11 June 2008, Miami, Florida, USA: JatrophaWorld 2008. (Themes: biofuels, jatropha, feedstocks).
- 21-22 August 2008, Bali, Indonesia: Jatropha World Summit 2008. (Theme: Jatropha)
News
- Air NZ sees biofuel salvation in jatropha, 6 June 2008 by Carbonpositive: "In the race to develop a viable aviation biofuel, Air New Zealand and Boeing are banking on the jatropha plant to deliver the cost-effective, green alternative they need."..."The airline has announced a goal to supply 10 per cent of its aviation fuel needs from biofuels by 2013."
- Myanmar biofuel drive deepens food shortage , 13 May 2008 by AFP: "Myanmar is struggling to feed its people in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis -- in part because the regime has been forcing some farmers to stop growing rice in a plan to produce biofuel instead."
- JatrophaWorld 2008 - Global Jatropha Industry Platform for latest Information on Jatropha, Over 350 delegates from 40 countries were at JatrophaWorld 2008 in Jakarta, Indonesia on 23-24 January. A panel of internationally acclaimed experts delivered insightful speeches on Jatropha plantation management, project finance, agronomy, Carbon trading, CDM financing, and applications of Jatropha and Jatropha by products. The second conference in the JatrophaWorld 2008 series will be held in Miami on 10-11 June 2008.
- India to unveil bio-fuel policy in March , 1 February 2008 by Sify business, reports that India's government plans to issue a policy on biofuels in early March, which could boost plantings of jatropha. Sources say that India has thirty million hectares of unused land that is suitable for jatropha and other crops for biofuels.
- Trees for Clean Energy Project: Kenyan farmers to benefit from biofuels in semi-arid zones , 7 November from Biopact, 950 small farmers are learning how to cultivate jatropha as a new economic opportunity.
- Centre for jatropha promotion & biodiesel announces biodiesel distance training program, 7 September 2007 The distance training program will apply a learning by seeing approach and allow people who are trying to start a jatropha growing business to learn how through their computer.
- Oils to build China's first jatropha biodiesel plant in Guangxi, 18 June 2007 D1 Oils is planning to invest 500 million to 700 million yuan (US$65.5 to US$ 91.8 million) to build a biodiesel refinery in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, with jatropha as the planned feedstock.
- India plans new biofuel mission, 11 April 2007 from Monstersandcritics.com. India is planning a new biofuel plan with a focus on jatropha and karanj. The first phase would cover 400,000 ha and the second 11.2 million ha of land. There are challenges to implementation, including the reluctance of farmers to invest in a crop like jatropha that doesn't yield seeds until the third year.
- China plans to plant an area the size of England with biofuel trees 8 February 2007 from China Daily. China will plant 13 million hectares, an area the size of England, with jatropha trees to produce oil amounting to nearly 6 million tons of biodiesel every year. The jatropha trees can also provide wood fuel for a power plant with an installed capacity of 12 million kilowatts, will account for 30% of the country's renewable energy by 2010.
- $8.5m UN/Chinese programme to develop biofuel production in western China - 30 November 2006 from Biofuelreview.com. The US$ 8.585 million project, established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in China and the Chinese government, aims to use green technologies to reduce poverty and improve fragile ecosystems among ethnic minorities in western China, where the number of the total poor is growing. Entitled “Green Poverty Reduction in China”, it aims to create a market for the oil-rich seed of the Jatropha curcas L. tree, which grows wild in the mountainous regions of western China and is currently used on farms as hedging and to prevent desertification. Jatropha's wide-spread cultivation would hopefully lead to more fertile land in an area where soil erosion and aridity create difficulties for agriculture and the ecosystem.
- Philippine's biofuels project gets P$1 billion funding 9 November 2006 from the Manila Standard. "A P1-billion fund has been earmarked for the development of the biofuel industry, using jatropha (tubang bakod) as a fuel source. The Philippine National Oil Company Petrochemicals Corp. and the National Development Co. will each contribute P500 million to the project"
- Tanzania begins biofuel production November 5, 2006 from Biopact. "Sun Biofuel Tanzania Limited (SBF) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dar es Salaam and Kisarawe district authorities for the production of bio-fuel" from jatropha curcas (locally known as mkaranga), planted on 18, 000 hectares of land.
- Comparing the Effect of Palm and Jatropha Biodiesel in a Diesel Engine November 3, 2006, from greencarcongress.com. "Researchers at Indonesia’s Institut Teknologi Bandung have compared the effects and performance of biodiesel fuels derived from two different feedstocks of importance to that country—palm oil and jatropha—in a direct-injection diesel engine."
- Myanmar leapfrogs to oil independence through biofuels program - questions about human rights remain August 13, 2006 from Biopact. "Myanmar (Burma), which is governed by a ruthless military junta, hopes to replace all of its 40,000 barrels per day of conventional oil imports with a homegrown nut oil (jatropha) within three years. Jatropha cultivation is highly labor intensive and it is feared that Burma's government may use forced labor once again in establishing and operating the plantations."
- Terasol LABS and SEBRAE-CE Partner To Introduce New Biodiesel Feedstocks. November 9, 2007 from Renewable Energy Access.com Terasol LABS, a plant biotechnology company focused on the development of Jatropha curcas, Castor and other biodiesel crops, and SEBRAE-CE, the Brazilian Government's Office of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises, announced a partnership to develop test plantations in Ceara, Brazil.
Countries
Look here for more detailed information on a specific country's or region's policies, organizations and industry.
- Asia: Burma (Myanmar), China, India, Indonesia, The Philippines
- Latin America: Nicaragua
- Africa: Tanzania, Zimbabwe
External Resources
- www.jatropha.org - A website on the Jatropha System run by Bagani, a renewable energy consulting service.
- www.jatrophaworld.org - The Center for Jatropha Promotion is a web-site produced by the Society for Rural Initiatives for Promotion of Herbals (SRIPHL ) based inChuru, Rajasthan, India, "a non profit, non-government organization devoted to improving lives of rural farmers."
- Terasol LABS - Terasol LABS is a leading global company focused on biodiesel crop science. We are based in Chennai, India with offices in Brazil and the United States.
Companies
References
| Jatropha | edit | |
| Jatropha in rural development | Sustainable Jatropha Initiative Multifunctional platform | ||
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