If you liked this story, share it with other individuals.
Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "miracle" biofuel. A simple shrubby tree belonging to Central America, it was wildly promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that might grow on degraded lands across Latin America, Africa and Asia.
A jatropha rush occurred, with more than 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) planted by 2008. But the bubble burst. Low yields led to plantation failures almost everywhere. 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 return, they say, is reliant on cracking the yield issue and attending to the damaging land-use issues linked with its original failure.
The sole remaining large jatropha plantation is in Ghana. The plantation owner declares high-yield domesticated ranges have actually been accomplished and a brand-new boom is at hand. But even if this comeback fails, the world's experience of jatropha holds important lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, a simple shrub-like tree belonging to Central America, was planted throughout the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its guarantee as a sustainable source of biofuel that could be grown on broken down, unfertile lands so as not to displace food crops. But inflated claims of high yields fell flat.
Now, after years of research and development, the sole remaining big plantation focused on growing jatropha remains in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, claims the jatropha comeback is on.
"All those companies that failed, embraced a plug-and-play model of searching for the wild ranges of jatropha. But to advertise it, you require to domesticate it. This belongs of the procedure that was missed [throughout the boom]," jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian told Mongabay in an interview.
Having found out from the mistakes of jatropha's previous failures, he states the oily plant might yet play a key function as a liquid biofuel feedstock, decreasing transportation carbon emissions at the international level. A brand-new boom could bring fringe benefits, with jatropha also a prospective source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.
But some researchers are skeptical, noting that jatropha has already gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They warn that if the plant is to reach full capacity, then it is necessary to gain from previous errors. During the first boom, jatropha plantations were obstructed not just by poor yields, however by land grabbing, deforestation, and social issues in nations where it was planted, including Ghana, where jOil runs.
Experts likewise suggest that jatropha's tale provides lessons for scientists and business owners exploring appealing new sources for liquid biofuels - which exist aplenty.
Miracle shrub, major bust
Jatropha's early 21st-century appeal originated from its promise as a "second-generation" biofuel, which are sourced from lawns, trees and other plants not obtained from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its numerous supposed virtues was an ability to thrive on abject or "limited" lands; therefore, it was declared it would never ever take on food crops, so the theory went.
At that time, jatropha ticked all the boxes, says Alexandros Gasparatos, now at the University of Tokyo's Institute for Future Initiatives. "We had a crop that appeared amazing; that can grow without excessive fertilizer, too many pesticides, or excessive need for water, that can be exported [as fuel] abroad, and does not contend with food since it is toxic."
Governments, worldwide firms, investors and companies bought into the hype, introducing initiatives to plant, or guarantee 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 got ready for WWF.
It didn't take wish for the mirage of the incredible biofuel tree to fade.
In 2009, a Buddies of the Earth report from Eswatini (still understood at the time as Swaziland) warned that jatropha's high needs for land would certainly bring it into direct conflict with food crops. By 2011, a global review kept in mind that "growing outpaced both clinical understanding of the crop's capacity as well as an understanding of how the crop suits existing rural economies and the degree to which it can thrive on marginal lands."
Projections approximated 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, only 1.19 million hectares (2.94 million acres) were growing by 2011. Projects and plantations began to stop working as expected yields refused to emerge. Jatropha might grow on degraded lands and tolerate drought conditions, as declared, however yields remained bad.
"In my opinion, this mix of speculative investment, export-oriented capacity, and possible to grow under reasonably poorer conditions, produced a huge problem," resulting in "ignored yields that were going to be produced," Gasparatos states.
As jatropha plantations went from boom to bust, they were likewise plagued by environmental, social and economic troubles, say specialists. Accusations of land grabs, the conversion of food crop lands, and clearing of natural areas were reported.
Studies found that land-use change for jatropha in nations such as Brazil, Mexico and Tanzania caused a loss of biodiversity. A study from Mexico discovered the "carbon payback" of jatropha plantations due to involved forest loss varied between 2 and 14 years, and "in some scenarios, the carbon financial obligation might never be recuperated." In India, production showed carbon advantages, however making use of fertilizers led to boosts of soil and water "acidification, ecotoxicity, eutrophication."
"If you take a look at many of the plantations in Ghana, they declare that the jatropha produced was located on minimal land, but the idea of marginal land is really evasive," explains Abubakari Ahmed, a speaker at the University for Development Studies, Ghana. He studied the implications of jatropha plantations in the nation over numerous years, and found that a lax meaning of "marginal" implied that assumptions that the land co-opted for jatropha plantations had actually been lying unblemished and unused was typically illusory.
"Marginal to whom?" he asks. "The fact that ... presently no one is using [land] for farming does not indicate that no one is using it [for other functions] 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 discovered from the experience with jatropha, state analysts, which ought to be followed when considering other auspicious second-generation biofuels.
"There was a boom [in investment], however unfortunately not of research study, and action was taken based upon alleged advantages of jatropha," states Bart Muys, a teacher in the Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape at the University of Leuven, Belgium. In 2014, as the jatropha buzz was winding down, Muys and coworkers published a paper mentioning key lessons.
Fundamentally, he explains, there was an absence of knowledge about the plant itself and its requirements. This crucial requirement for in advance research study might be applied to other potential biofuel crops, he says. Last year, for instance, his group released a paper examining the yields of pongamia (Millettia pinnata), a "fast-growing, leguminous and multipurpose tree species" with biofuel pledge.
Like jatropha, pongamia can be grown on degraded and limited land. But Muys's research showed yields to be highly variable, contrary to other reports. The group concluded that "pongamia still can not be thought about a substantial and stable source of biofuel feedstock due to persisting understanding gaps." Use of such cautionary data could avoid inefficient financial speculation and careless land conversion for brand-new biofuels.
"There are other really promising trees or plants that could work as a fuel or a biomass producer," Muys states. "We wished to avoid [them going] in the very same instructions of early buzz and stop working, like jatropha."
Gasparatos highlights important requirements that should be fulfilled before continuing with new biofuel plantations: high yields should be opened, inputs to reach those yields understood, and an all set market must be readily available.
"Basically, the crop requires to be domesticated, or [scientific understanding] at a level that we understand how it is grown," Gasparatos states. Jatropha "was practically undomesticated when it was promoted, which was so strange."
How biofuel lands are obtained is also key, states Ahmed. Based upon experiences in Ghana where communally utilized lands were purchased for production, authorities should guarantee that "standards are put in location to examine how large-scale land acquisitions will be done and recorded in order to lower a few of the issues we observed."
A jatropha comeback?
Despite all these obstacles, some scientists still believe that under the best conditions, jatropha could be a valuable biofuel solution - particularly for the difficult-to-decarbonize transportation sector "accountable for around one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions."
"I think jatropha has some prospective, however it requires to be the best product, grown in the ideal location, and so on," Muys said.
Mohammad Alherbawi, a postdoctoral research fellow at Qatar's Hamad Bin Khalifa University, continues holding out hope for jatropha. He sees it as a method that Qatar may lower airline carbon emissions. According to his quotes, its usage as a jet fuel could result in about a 40% reduction of "cradle to tomb" emissions.
Alherbawi's group is performing ongoing field studies to enhance jatropha yields by fertilizing crops with sewage sludge. As an added benefit, he envisages a jatropha green belt covering 20,000 hectares (nearly 50,000 acres) in Qatar. "The implementation of the green belt can actually enhance the soil and farming lands, and safeguard them versus any further wear and tear triggered by dust storms," he states.
But the Qatar job's success still hinges on lots of aspects, not least the ability to obtain quality yields from the tree. Another essential step, Alherbawi discusses, is scaling up production innovation that utilizes the totality of the jatropha fruit to increase processing performance.
Back in Ghana, jOil is presently managing more than 1,300 hectares (1,830 acres) of jatropha, and growing a pilot plot on 300 hectares (740 acres) working with more than 400 farmers. Subramanian discusses that years of research study and development have led to varieties of jatropha that can now attain the high yields that were doing not have more than a years earlier.
"We were able to accelerate the yield cycle, improve the yield variety and improve the fruit-bearing capacity of the tree," Subramanian states. In essence, he specifies, the tree is now domesticated. "Our very first job is to expand our jatropha plantation to 20,000 hectares."
Biofuels aren't the only application JOil is taking a look 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 actually as soon as again reopened with the energy shift drive for oil companies and bio-refiners - [driven by] the search for alternative fuels that would be emission friendly."
A complete jatropha life-cycle evaluation has yet to be finished, however he thinks that cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions related to the oily plant will be "competitive ... These 2 aspects - that it is technically suitable, and the carbon sequestration - makes it a really strong prospect for adoption for ... sustainable air travel," he says. "Our company believe any such expansion will occur, [by clarifying] the meaning of abject land, [permitting] no competitors with food crops, nor in any way threatening food security of any nation."
Where next for jatropha?
Whether jatropha can genuinely be carbon neutral, environment-friendly and socially accountable depends on complex aspects, consisting of where and how it's grown - whether, for example, its production model is based in smallholder farms versus industrial-scale plantations, state professionals. Then there's the bothersome problem of attaining high yields.
Earlier this year, the Bolivian government revealed its objective to pursue jatropha plantations in the Gran Chaco biome, part of a national biofuels push that has actually stirred debate over prospective repercussions. The Gran Chaco's dry forest biome is already in deep trouble, having been greatly deforested by aggressive agribusiness practices.
Many previous plantations in Ghana, cautions Ahmed, converted dry savanna woodland, which became problematic for carbon accounting. "The net carbon was typically unfavorable in most of the jatropha websites, since the carbon sequestration of jatropha can not be compared to that of a shea tree," he discusses.
Other scientists chronicle the "potential of Jatropha curcas as an environmentally benign biodiesel feedstock" in Malaysia, Indonesia and India. But still other researchers remain doubtful of the environmental viability of second-generation biofuels. "If Mexico promotes biofuels, such as the exploitation of jatropha, the rebound is that it perhaps ends up being so successful, that we will have a lot of associated land-use modification," states 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 conducted research study on the possibilities of jatropha contributing to a circular economy in Mexico.
Avila-Ortega mentions previous land-use problems related to expansion of various crops, consisting of oil palm, sugarcane and avocado: "Our police is so weak that it can not handle the economic sector doing whatever they desire, in regards to developing ecological issues."
Researchers in Mexico are currently exploring jatropha-based animals feed as a low-cost and sustainable replacement for grain. Such uses may be well fit to regional contexts, Avila-Ortega agrees, though he remains concerned about potential environmental costs.
He suggests limiting jatropha growth in Mexico to make it a "crop that dominates land," growing it just in really bad soils in need of restoration. "Jatropha could be among those plants that can grow in very sterilized wastelands," he discusses. "That's the only way I would ever promote it in Mexico - as part of a forest healing method for wastelands. Otherwise, the associated problems are greater than the prospective advantages."
Jatropha's international future remains unpredictable. And its possible as a tool in the battle against climate modification can just be opened, state numerous professionals, by avoiding the litany of troubles related to its very first boom.
Will jatropha jobs that sputtered to a stop in the early 2000s be fired back up once again? Subramanian believes its role as a sustainable biofuel is "impending" and that the return is on. "We have strong interest from the energy market now," he states, "to team up with us to develop and broaden 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 primer: 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 tasks worldwide - Key realities & figures from an international study. 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 jobs: Arise from field studies in Mozambique, Tanzania and Mali. Sustainability, 6( 9 ), 6203-6235. doi:10.3390/ su6096203
Trebbin, A. (2021 ). Land grabbing and jatropha in India: An analysis of 'hyped' discourse on the topic. 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 evaluation of socio-economic and environmental 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 impacts 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 community service approach to identify whether jatropha projects were found in limited lands in Ghana: Implications for site 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 restrictions of promoting new tree crops - Lessons found out from jatropha. Sustainability, 6( 6 ), 3213-3231. doi:10.3390/ su6063213
Alherbawi, M., McKay, G., Govindan, R., Haji, M., & Al-Ansari, T. (2022 ). A novel technique on the delineation of a multipurpose energy-greenbelt to produce biofuel and battle desertification in deserts. 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 development of Jatropha curcas commoditisation as biodiesel feedstock: A detailed review. 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 type to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public remark, you can do that at the bottom of the page.
