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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a “wonder” biofuel. An unassuming shrubby tree native to Central America, it was extremely promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that could grow on throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia.
A jatropha rush took place, with more than 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) planted by 2008. But the bubble burst. Low yields caused plantation failures nearly all over. The after-effects of the jatropha crash was polluted by accusations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.
Today, some researchers continue pursuing the evasive guarantee of high-yielding jatropha. A resurgence, they say, depends on cracking the yield problem and resolving the harmful land-use issues intertwined with its original failure.
The sole staying big jatropha plantation remains in Ghana. The plantation owner declares high-yield domesticated varieties have actually been achieved and a brand-new boom is at hand. But even if this resurgence fails, the world’s experience of jatropha holds crucial lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, an unassuming shrub-like tree belonging to Central America, was planted throughout the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its promise as a sustainable source of biofuel that might be grown on deteriorated, unfertile lands so as not to displace food crops. But inflated claims of high yields failed.

Now, after years of research study and advancement, the sole remaining large plantation concentrated on growing jatropha is in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, declares the jatropha resurgence is on.

“All those companies that failed, adopted a plug-and-play model of scouting for the wild varieties of jatropha. But to commercialize it, you require to domesticate it. This belongs of the procedure that was missed out on [throughout the boom],” jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian told Mongabay in an interview.

Having gained from the errors of jatropha’s past failures, he states the oily plant could yet play a key role as a liquid biofuel feedstock, reducing transportation carbon emissions at the international level. A brand-new boom might bring extra benefits, with jatropha also a prospective source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some scientists are skeptical, keeping in mind that jatropha has actually already gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They warn that if the plant is to reach full capacity, then it is important to gain from past mistakes. During the very first boom, jatropha plantations were hindered not just by bad yields, but by land grabbing, deforestation, and social problems in nations where it was planted, consisting of Ghana, where jOil runs.

Experts likewise suggest that jatropha’s tale offers lessons for researchers and entrepreneurs checking out promising new sources for liquid biofuels - which exist aplenty.

Miracle shrub, significant bust

Jatropha’s early 21st-century appeal came from its guarantee as a “second-generation” biofuel, which are sourced from grasses, trees and other plants not stemmed from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its numerous purported virtues was a capability to flourish on degraded or “limited” lands