Jatropha Oil

History

Jatropha Curcas tree

Source: http://www.globalteamsinvestments.co...nts/green_oil/. Author: Green Team Investments. Permission: http://www.globalteamsinvestments.co...nts/green_oil/.

 Jatropha Curcas is native to South America where historical studies show it was used bythe Mayans. It is believed that it was spread by Portuguese seafarers to distants areas in Asia and Africa where it has become considered "indigenous".²    Lisbon, Spain is where the first commercial applications of jatropha took place where the oil imported from Cape Verde was used for soap production and for lamps. The press cake of the plant was also  used as afertilizer for potatoes and other agricultural goods.²

 Advantages

 The Jatropha is an incredibly adaptable and versatile plant and, as thus, has many advantages. It is propagated by seeds or cuttings and is not browsed by animals making it easy to introduce and maintain.²   It is well-suited for arid and semi-arid environments where it is often used as erosion control.²    The many parts of the seeds can be used for a wide variety of applications such as biofuels, soap production, fertilizer, medicinal purposes and insecticide.²

The production and harvesting of Jatropha oil for biofuel and the by-products for other uses is very labor intensive so it fits the labor-based markets of developing nations well and has a net positive GHG emissions rate when compared to the fossil fuels it seeks to augment and/or replace.¹    The land use type, the harvesting and fertilizing methods and transportation methods are important when considering its net positive or negative effect. If Jatropha is planned on reclaimed or marginal lands, then its effect is largely positive, where as if the Jatropha is planted on lands that were formerly pristine woodlands or tropical forests that were destroyed in order to plant Jatropha, then the net energy emissions balance becomes heavily negative.¹

The Jatropha can survive in harsh conditions and is well-suited for use in reclaimed lands and marginal lands where other biocrops would not survive or thrive.¹   With a large swaths of land either salinated or otherwise damaged, Jatropha could help to prevent erosion and provide a sustainable, carbon-reducing crop.

Jatropha Fruits

Source: http://www.alaglobal.com/public/icct...getable%20oils. Author: ICC Trade. Permission: http://www.alaglobal.com/public/icct...getable%20oils.

Disadvantages

Jatropha is, unfortunately, not always the panacea that many portray it to be. Water use, for instance, is an important factor to consider. The Jatropha curcas can survive up to three years of consecutive drought, but must drop its leaves in order to do so, which stops seed production during that time. It requires at least 23 in (600 mm) of rainfall, or irrigation, each year to be productive.³

Commercial production of the plant is not economically viable and whether this is an advantage or disadvantage is debatable. Large scale production of the tree requires intense use of artificial nitrogen to achieve "at scale" quantities and makes the plant much less attractive as a carbon-offsetting biofuel.¹

The jatropha is toxic to humans and animals and is considered invasive. These are the reasons that led to it being banned in the Australian province of Western Australia.³

Footnotes

Footnotes

1. : Achten WMJ, Mathijs E, Verchot L, Singh VP, Aerts R, Muys B 2007. Jatropha biodiesel fueling sustainability?. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining 1(4), 283-291.

2. : Gübitz et al., 1999 G.M. Gübitz, M. Mittelbach and M. Trabi, Exploitation of the tropical oil seed plant Jatropha curcas L, Bioresource Technology 67 (1999), pp. 73–82.

3. : Macintyre, Ben, "Poison plant could help cure the planet", Times Online, July 28, 2007, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2155351.ece