Jatropha: the Biofuel that Bombed Seeks a Course To Redemption

If you liked this story, share it with other people.

Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a “wonder” biofuel. An unassuming shrubby tree native to Central America, it was wildly promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that might grow on abject lands across 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 led to plantation failures nearly all over. The after-effects of the jatropha crash was tainted by allegations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.

Today, some scientists continue pursuing the evasive guarantee of high-yielding jatropha. A resurgence, they state, is reliant on breaking the yield problem and resolving the harmful land-use problems linked with its original failure.

The sole remaining big jatropha plantation is in Ghana. The plantation owner claims high-yield domesticated ranges have actually been accomplished and a brand-new boom is at hand. But even if this comeback falters, the world’s experience of jatropha holds crucial lessons for any promising up-and-coming biofuel.

At the start of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, a simple shrub-like tree native to Central America, was planted across the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its guarantee as a sustainable source of biofuel that could be grown on degraded, unfertile lands so as not to displace food crops. But inflated claims of high yields failed.

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

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

Having discovered from the errors of jatropha’s past failures, he says the oily plant could yet play a key role as a liquid biofuel feedstock, minimizing transport carbon emissions at the international level. A new boom could bring extra benefits, with jatropha also a possible source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some scientists are skeptical, keeping in mind that jatropha has currently gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They warn that if the plant is to reach complete potential, then it is necessary to learn from past errors. During the very first boom, jatropha plantations were obstructed not just by bad yields, but by land grabbing, deforestation, and social issues in countries where it was planted, consisting of Ghana, where jOil runs.

Experts likewise recommend that jatropha’s tale uses lessons for researchers and entrepreneurs checking out appealing new sources for liquid biofuels – which exist aplenty.

Miracle shrub, significant bust

Jatropha’s early 21st-century appeal came from its promise as a “second-generation” biofuel, which are sourced from lawns, trees and other plants not originated from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its multiple supposed virtues was a capability to prosper on degraded or “minimal” lands; thus, it was declared it would never compete with food crops, so the theory went.

Back then, jatropha ticked all packages, states Alexandros Gasparatos, now at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Future Initiatives. “We had a crop that seemed incredible; that can grow without excessive fertilizer, a lot of pesticides, or excessive demand for water, that can be exported [as fuel] abroad, and does not take on food because it is toxic.”

Governments, international firms, investors and companies bought into the hype, introducing efforts to plant, or promise to plant, countless hectares of jatropha. By 2008, plantations covered some 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) in Latin America, Africa and Asia, according to a market research study prepared for WWF.

It didn’t take long for the mirage of the miraculous biofuel tree to fade.

In 2009, a Pals of the Earth report from Eswatini (still understood at the time as Swaziland) alerted that jatropha’s high needs for land would undoubtedly bring it into direct conflict with food crops. By 2011, a global review kept in mind that “cultivation outpaced both scientific understanding of the crop’s capacity in addition to an understanding of how the crop suits existing rural economies and the degree to which it can thrive on limited lands.”

Projections estimated 4.7 million hectares (11.7 million acres) would be planted by 2010, and 12.8 million hectares (31.6 million acres) by 2015. However, just 1.19 million hectares (2.94 million acres) were growing by 2011. Projects and plantations began to stop working as anticipated yields declined to materialize. Jatropha could grow on degraded lands and endure dry spell conditions, as declared, however yields stayed poor.

“In my opinion, this mix of speculative investment, export-oriented capacity, and prospective to grow under fairly poorer conditions, developed a very big problem,” leading to “undervalued yields that were going to be produced,” Gasparatos says.

As jatropha plantations went from boom to bust, they were likewise pestered by environmental, social and financial problems, say specialists. Accusations of land grabs, the conversion of food crop lands, and cleaning of natural areas were reported.

Studies found that land-use modification for jatropha in countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Tanzania led to a loss of biodiversity. A study from Mexico found the “carbon repayment” of jatropha plantations due to involved forest loss ranged in between 2 and 14 years, and “in some circumstances, the carbon debt may never be recuperated.” In India, production showed carbon benefits, however the use of fertilizers resulted in increases of soil and water “acidification, ecotoxicity, eutrophication.”

“If you take a look at most of the plantations in Ghana, they claim that the jatropha produced was situated on minimal land, however the idea of limited land is extremely elusive,” describes Abubakari Ahmed, a speaker at the University for Development Studies, Ghana. He studied the ramifications of jatropha plantations in the nation over numerous years, and found that a lax definition of “minimal” meant that presumptions that the land co-opted for jatropha plantations had actually been lying untouched and unused was frequently illusory.

“Marginal to whom?” he asks. “The truth that … currently nobody is utilizing [land] for farming doesn’t imply that no one is utilizing it [for other purposes] There are a great deal of nature-based livelihoods on those landscapes that you might not necessarily see from satellite images.”

Learning from jatropha

There are key lessons to be gained from the experience with jatropha, say experts, which must be followed when considering other advantageous second-generation biofuels.

“There was a boom [in investment], but sadly not of research, and action was taken based on alleged benefits of jatropha,” says Bart Muys, a professor in the Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape at the University of Leuven, Belgium. In 2014, as the jatropha hype was unwinding, Muys and associates published a paper citing crucial lessons.

Fundamentally, he describes, there was an absence of knowledge about the plant itself and its requirements. This essential requirement for upfront research study could be used to other prospective biofuel crops, he states. Last year, for instance, his team launched a paper analyzing the yields of pongamia (Millettia pinnata), a “fast-growing, leguminous and multipurpose tree types” with biofuel pledge.

Like jatropha, pongamia can be grown on abject and limited land. But Muys’s research revealed yields to be highly variable, contrary to other reports. The group concluded that “pongamia still can not be considered a significant and stable source of biofuel feedstock due to persisting understanding spaces.” Use of such cautionary data could prevent inefficient monetary speculation and negligent land conversion for new biofuels.

“There are other extremely appealing trees or plants that could work as a fuel or a biomass producer,” Muys says. “We wanted to avoid [them going] in the very same instructions of premature hype and fail, like jatropha.”

Gasparatos highlights essential requirements that need to be fulfilled before continuing with brand-new biofuel plantations: high yields should be unlocked, inputs to reach those yields understood, and a prepared market should be offered.

“Basically, the crop requires to be domesticated, or [scientific understanding] at a level that we understand how it is grown,” Gasparatos states. Jatropha “was virtually undomesticated when it was promoted, which was so strange.”

How biofuel lands are gotten is also essential, says Ahmed. Based upon experiences in Ghana where communally utilized lands were acquired for production, authorities need to guarantee that “guidelines are put in location to inspect how massive land acquisitions will be done and documented in order to lower a few of the problems we observed.”

A jatropha resurgence?

Despite all these obstacles, some researchers still think that under the best conditions, jatropha could be an important biofuel solution – especially for the difficult-to-decarbonize transportation sector “accountable for roughly one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions.”

“I think jatropha has some possible, however it requires to be the ideal material, grown in the right place, and so on,” Muys stated.

Mohammad Alherbawi, a postdoctoral research fellow at Qatar’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, continues holding out hope for jatropha. He sees it as a manner in which Qatar may reduce airline carbon emissions. According to his quotes, its use as a jet fuel might result in about a 40% decrease of “cradle to grave” emissions.

Alherbawi’s team is performing ongoing field research studies to increase jatropha yields by fertilizing crops with sewage sludge. As an included benefit, he envisages a jatropha green belt covering 20,000 hectares (almost 50,000 acres) in Qatar. “The implementation of the green belt can actually enhance the soil and farming lands, and safeguard them versus any additional degeneration brought on by dust storms,” he states.

But the Qatar job’s success still depends upon many elements, not least the ability to obtain quality yields from the tree. Another essential step, Alherbawi explains, is scaling up production technology that utilizes the totality of the jatropha fruit to increase processing effectiveness.

Back in Ghana, jOil is currently handling more than 1,300 hectares (1,830 acres) of jatropha, and growing a pilot plot on 300 hectares (740 acres) dealing with more than 400 farmers. Subramanian explains that years of research and advancement have actually led to varieties of jatropha that can now achieve the high yields that were doing not have more than a years back.

“We were able to quicken the yield cycle, enhance the yield variety and improve the fruit-bearing capacity of the tree,” Subramanian states. In essence, he mentions, the tree is now domesticated. “Our first task is to expand our jatropha plantation to 20,000 hectares.”

Biofuels aren’t the only application JOil is looking at. The fruit and its byproducts could be a source of fertilizer, bio-candle wax, a charcoal substitute (essential in Africa where much wood is still burned for cooking), and even bioplastics.

But it is the transport sector that still beckons as the perfect biofuels application, according to Subramanian. “The biofuels story has when again reopened with the energy transition drive for oil business and bio-refiners – [driven by] the look for alternative fuels that would be emission friendly.”

A total jatropha life-cycle evaluation has yet to be finished, however he thinks that cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions associated with the oily plant will be “competitive … These two aspects – that it is technically ideal, and the carbon sequestration – makes it a very strong prospect for adoption for … sustainable air travel,” he says. “We think any such expansion will occur, [by clarifying] the definition of abject land, [allowing] no competition with food crops, nor in any way threatening food security of any country.”

Where next for jatropha?

Whether jatropha can really be carbon neutral, eco-friendly and socially accountable depends upon complex elements, consisting of where and how it’s grown – whether, for instance, its production design is based in smallholder farms versus industrial-scale plantations, say professionals. Then there’s the irritating problem of accomplishing high yields.

Earlier this year, the Bolivian government revealed its intention to pursue jatropha plantations in the Gran Chaco biome, part of a nationwide biofuels push that has actually stirred dispute over prospective consequences. The Gran Chaco’s dry forest biome is currently in deep difficulty, having actually been heavily deforested by aggressive agribusiness practices.

Many past plantations in Ghana, warns Ahmed, converted dry savanna woodland, which ended up being bothersome for carbon accounting. “The net carbon was frequently negative in most of the jatropha websites, due to the fact that the carbon sequestration of jatropha can not be compared to that of a shea tree,” he discusses.

Other researchers chronicle the “potential of Jatropha curcas as an ecologically benign biodiesel feedstock” in Malaysia, Indonesia and India. But still other scientists stay doubtful of the ecological viability of second-generation biofuels. “If Mexico promotes biofuels, such as the exploitation of jatropha, the rebound is that it possibly becomes so successful, that we will have a great deal of associated land-use change,” says Daniel Itzamna Avila-Ortega, co-founder of the Mexican Center of Industrial Ecology and a Ph.D. trainee with the Stockholm Resilience Centre; he has actually conducted research on the possibilities of jatropha adding to a circular economy in Mexico.

Avila-Ortega points out past land-use issues associated with growth of numerous crops, including oil palm, sugarcane and avocado: “Our police is so weak that it can not manage the economic sector doing whatever they want, in terms of creating ecological issues.”

Researchers in Mexico are currently checking out jatropha-based animals feed as an affordable and sustainable replacement for grain. Such usages might be well matched to local contexts, Avila-Ortega agrees, though he stays worried about potential environmental expenses.

He suggests restricting jatropha expansion in Mexico to make it a “crop that conquers land,” growing it just in genuinely poor soils in need of remediation. “Jatropha could be one of those plants that can grow in extremely sterile wastelands,” he discusses. “That’s the only way I would ever promote it in Mexico – as part of a forest recovery method for wastelands. Otherwise, the involved problems are greater than the prospective benefits.”

Jatropha’s global future remains unsure. And its prospective as a tool in the fight against climate change can just be opened, state numerous experts, by avoiding the litany of troubles associated with its very first boom.

Will jatropha projects that sputtered to a halt in the early 2000s be fired back up again? Subramanian thinks its function as a sustainable biofuel is “impending” and that the resurgence is on. “We have strong interest from the energy market now,” he states, “to work together with us to establish and expand the supply chain of jatropha.”

Banner image: Jatropha curcas trees in Hawai’i. Image by Forest and Kim Starr via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

A liquid biofuels guide: Carbon-cutting hopes vs. real-world impacts

Citations:

Wahl, N., Hildebrandt, T., Moser, C., Lüdeke-Freund, F., Averdunk, K., Bailis, R., … Zelt, T. (2012 ). Insights into jatropha jobs worldwide – Key truths & figures from a global survey. Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM), Leuphana Universität Lüneburg. doi:10.2139/ ssrn.2254823

Romijn, H., Heijnen, S., Colthoff, J. R., De Jong, B., & Van Eijck, J. (2014 ). Economic and social sustainability performance of jatropha projects: Arise from field surveys in Mozambique, Tanzania and Mali. Sustainability, 6( 9 ), 6203-6235. doi:10.3390/ su6096203

Trebbin, A. (2021 ). Land getting and jatropha in India: An analysis of ‘hyped’ discourse on the subject. Land, 10( 10 ), 1063. doi:10.3390/ land10101063

Van Eijck, J., Romijn, H., Balkema, A., & Faaij, A. (2014 ). Global experience with jatropha growing for bioenergy: An assessment of socio-economic and ecological aspects. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 32, 869-889. doi:10.1016/ j.rser.2014.01.028

Skutsch, M., De los Rios, E., Solis, S., Riegelhaupt, E., Hinojosa, D., Gerfert, S., … Masera, O. (2011 ). Jatropha in Mexico: environmental and social impacts of an incipient biofuel program. Ecology and Society, 16( 4 ). doi:10.5751/ ES-04448-160411

Gmünder, S., Singh, R., Pfister, S., Adheloya, A., & Zah, R. (2012 ). Environmental effects of Jatropha curcas biodiesel in India. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, 2012. doi:10.1155/ 2012/623070

Ahmed, A., Jarzebski, M. P., & Gasparatos, A. (2018 ). Using the ecosystem service method to figure out whether jatropha tasks were found in minimal lands in Ghana: Implications for website selection. Biomass and Bioenergy, 114, 112-124. doi:10.1016/ j.biombioe.2017.07.020

Achten, W. M., Sharma, N., Muys, B., Mathijs, E., & Vantomme, P. (2014 ). Opportunities and constraints of promoting new tree crops – Lessons gained from . Sustainability, 6( 6 ), 3213-3231. doi:10.3390/ su6063213

Alherbawi, M., McKay, G., Govindan, R., Haji, M., & Al-Ansari, T. (2022 ). An unique technique on the delineation of a multipurpose energy-greenbelt to produce biofuel and combat desertification in arid regions. Journal of Environmental Management, 323, 116223. doi:10.1016/ j.jenvman.2022.116223

Riayatsyah, T. M. I., Sebayang, A. H., Silitonga, A. S., Padli, Y., Fattah, I. M. R., Kusumo, F., … Mahlia, T. M. I. (2022 ). Current progress of Jatropha curcas commoditisation as biodiesel feedstock: An extensive evaluation. Frontiers in Energy Research, 9, 1019. doi:10.3389/ fenrg.2021.815416

Mokhtar, E. S., Akhir, N. M., Zaki, N. A. M., Muharam, F. M., Pradhan, B., & Lay, U. S. (2021 ). Land suitability for possible jatropha plantation in Malaysia. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 620( 1 ), 012002. doi:10.1088/ 1755-1315/620/ 1/012002

Chamola, R., Kumar, N., & Jain, S. (2022 ). Jatropha: A sustainable source of transport fuel in India. In Advancement in Materials, Manufacturing and Energy Engineering, Vol. II: Select Proceedings of ICAMME 2021 (pp. 395-408). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi:10.1007/ 978-981-16-8341-1_32

Peralta, H., Avila-Ortega, D. I., & García-Flores, J. C. (2022 ). Jatropha farm: A circular economy proposal for the non-toxic physic nut crop in Mexico. Environmental Sciences Proceedings, 15( 1 ), 10. doi:10.3390/ environsciproc2022015010

Hao, M., Qian, Y., Xie, X., Chen, S., Ding, F., & Ma, T. (2022 ). Global marginal land schedule of Jatropha curcas L.-based biodiesel advancement. Journal of Cleaner Production, 364, 132655. doi:10.1016/ j.jclepro.2022.132655

FEEDBACK: Use this kind to send out a message to the author of this post. If you wish to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.