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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "miracle" biofuel. A simple shrubby tree native to Central America, it was wildly promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that could grow on degraded lands throughout 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 resulted in plantation failures nearly everywhere. The consequences of the jatropha crash was tainted by allegations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.
Today, some scientists continue pursuing the incredibly elusive pledge of high-yielding jatropha. A resurgence, they say, depends on cracking the yield problem and addressing the harmful land-use concerns intertwined with its initial failure.
The sole remaining large jatropha plantation remains in Ghana. The plantation owner declares high-yield domesticated varieties have actually been achieved and a new boom is at hand. But even if this return falters, the world's experience of jatropha holds important 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 throughout the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its guarantee as a sustainable source of biofuel that might be grown on broken down, 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 is in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, declares the jatropha comeback is on.

"All those business that failed, adopted a plug-and-play model of searching for the wild varieties of jatropha. But to commercialize it, you require to domesticate it. This is a part of the process that was missed [during the boom]," jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian informed Mongabay in an interview.

Having found out from the errors of jatropha's past failures, he states the oily plant could yet play an essential function as a liquid biofuel feedstock, minimizing transportation carbon emissions at the global level. A new boom might bring extra benefits, with jatropha likewise a prospective source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

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

Experts also suggest that jatropha's tale uses lessons for scientists and entrepreneurs checking out promising brand-new sources for liquid biofuels - which exist aplenty.

Miracle shrub, significant bust

Jatropha's early 21st-century appeal originated from its pledge as a "second-generation" biofuel, which are sourced from yards, trees and other plants not derived from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its numerous purported virtues was an ability to thrive on degraded or "minimal" lands; hence, it was declared it would never 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 seemed incredible; that can grow without too much fertilizer, a lot of pesticides, or too much need for water, that can be exported [as fuel] abroad, and does not take on food due to the fact that it is poisonous."

Governments, global companies, financiers and companies purchased into the buzz, introducing efforts to plant, or guarantee to plant, millions of 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 wish for the mirage of the amazing 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 certainly bring it into direct dispute with food crops. By 2011, an international evaluation kept in mind that "cultivation surpassed both scientific understanding of the crop's capacity along with an understanding of how the crop fits into existing rural economies and the degree to which it can flourish on marginal 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, only 1.19 million hectares (2.94 million acres) were growing by 2011. Projects and plantations started to stop working as anticipated yields refused to materialize. Jatropha could grow on abject lands and tolerate dry spell conditions, as declared, but yields remained poor.

"In my viewpoint, this mix of speculative financial investment, export-oriented potential, and prospective to grow under relatively poorer conditions, created a really big problem," leading to "underestimated yields that were going to be produced," Gasparatos says.

As jatropha plantations went from boom to bust, they were also afflicted by environmental, social and financial difficulties, say professionals. 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 countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Tanzania caused a loss of biodiversity. A study from Mexico discovered the "carbon payback" of jatropha curcas plantations due to associated forest loss ranged in between 2 and 14 years, and "in some circumstances, the carbon debt might never be recovered." In India, production showed carbon benefits, however the usage of fertilizers resulted in boosts 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 positioned on marginal land, but the concept of minimal land is extremely evasive," describes Abubakari Ahmed, a speaker at the University for Development Studies, Ghana. He studied the implications of jatropha plantations in the country over several years, and discovered that a lax definition of "marginal" indicated 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 reality that ... presently nobody is utilizing [land] for farming does not imply that no one is utilizing it [for other purposes] There are a lot of nature-based incomes on those landscapes that you might not necessarily see from satellite imagery."

Learning from jatropha

There are crucial lessons to be gained from the experience with jatropha, say analysts, which should be hearkened when considering other advantageous second-generation biofuels.

"There was a boom [in financial investment], but unfortunately not of research study, and action was taken based on alleged benefits 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 colleagues released a paper citing key lessons.

Fundamentally, he explains, there was a lack of understanding about the plant itself and its requirements. This vital requirement for in advance research study could be applied to other prospective biofuel crops, he states. Last year, for example, his group released a paper evaluating the yields of pongamia (Millettia pinnata), a "fast-growing, leguminous and multipurpose tree types" with biofuel promise.

Like jatropha, pongamia can be grown on degraded and minimal land. But Muys's research study revealed yields to be highly variable, contrary to other reports. The group concluded that "pongamia still can not be considered a substantial and stable source of biofuel feedstock due to persisting knowledge spaces." Use of such cautionary data could prevent inefficient monetary speculation and reckless land conversion for brand-new biofuels.

"There are other extremely promising trees or plants that could function as a fuel or a biomass producer," Muys says. "We wished to prevent [them going] in the exact same instructions of premature buzz and stop working, like jatropha."

Gasparatos underlines important requirements that should be satisfied before continuing with new biofuel plantations: high yields need to be unlocked, inputs to reach those yields comprehended, and a prepared market should be offered.

"Basically, the crop needs to be domesticated, or [scientific understanding] at a level that we know how it is grown," Gasparatos says. Jatropha "was virtually undomesticated when it was promoted, which was so strange."

How biofuel lands are acquired is also key, states Ahmed. Based upon experiences in Ghana where communally utilized lands were purchased for production, authorities should make sure that "standards are put in location to inspect how large-scale land acquisitions will be done and documented in order to decrease some of the issues we observed."

A jatropha return?

Despite all these difficulties, some researchers still think that under the ideal conditions, jatropha might be a valuable biofuel solution - particularly for the difficult-to-decarbonize transportation sector "accountable for approximately one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions."

"I believe jatropha has some prospective, however it needs to be the right product, grown in the best place, and so on," Muys stated.

Mohammad Alherbawi, a postdoctoral research study fellow at Qatar's Hamad Bin Khalifa University, continues holding out hope for jatropha. He sees it as a way that Qatar might decrease airline company carbon emissions. According to his price quotes, its usage as a jet fuel might lead to about a 40% decrease of "cradle to tomb" emissions.

Alherbawi's group is conducting ongoing field studies to boost jatropha yields by fertilizing crops with sewage sludge. As an included advantage, he envisages a jatropha green belt spanning 20,000 hectares (nearly 50,000 acres) in Qatar. "The application of the green belt can really improve the soil and agricultural lands, and secure them against any more degeneration triggered by dust storms," he says.

But the Qatar project's success still depends upon lots of factors, not least the ability to get quality yields from the tree. Another essential action, Alherbawi discusses, is scaling up production innovation that uses the totality of the jatropha fruit to increase processing efficiency.

Back in Ghana, jOil is currently 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 advancement have actually resulted in ranges of jatropha that can now accomplish the high yields that were lacking more than a years back.

"We were able to accelerate the yield cycle, improve the yield variety and boost the fruit-bearing capability of the tree," Subramanian states. In essence, he mentions, the tree is now domesticated. "Our very first task is to broaden our jatropha plantation to 20,000 hectares."

Biofuels aren't the only application JOil is taking a look at. The fruit and its by-products might be a source of fertilizer, bio-candle wax, a charcoal alternative (important 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 once again reopened with the energy shift drive for oil business and bio-refiners - [driven by] the search for alternative fuels that would be emission friendly."

A total jatropha life-cycle assessment has yet to be finished, however he believes that cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions connected to the oily plant will be "competitive ... These 2 elements - that it is technically appropriate, and the carbon sequestration - makes it an extremely strong candidate for adoption for ... sustainable aviation," he says. "We believe any such growth will take location, [by clarifying] the definition of abject land, [allowing] no competitors 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 on complex aspects, including where and how it's grown - whether, for example, its production design is based in smallholder farms versus industrial-scale plantations, state experts. Then there's the irritating problem of achieving high yields.

Earlier this year, the Bolivian federal government announced its intent to pursue jatropha plantations in the Gran Chaco biome, part of a national biofuels press that has stirred debate over prospective consequences. The Gran Chaco's dry forest biome is currently in deep problem, having been heavily deforested by aggressive agribusiness practices.

Many past plantations in Ghana, alerts Ahmed, transformed dry savanna woodland, which ended up being problematic for carbon accounting. "The net carbon was frequently negative in the majority 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 "capacity of Jatropha curcas as an environmentally benign biodiesel feedstock" in Malaysia, Indonesia and India. But still other scientists stay skeptical of the eco-friendly practicality of second-generation biofuels. "If Mexico promotes biofuels, such as the exploitation of jatropha curcas, the rebound is that it possibly ends up being so successful, that we will have a great deal of associated land-use modification," 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 performed research study on the possibilities of jatropha curcas adding to a circular economy in Mexico.

previous land-use problems related to growth of different crops, including oil palm, sugarcane and avocado: "Our law enforcement is so weak that it can not handle the personal sector doing whatever they desire, in terms of producing environmental problems."

Researchers in Mexico are presently exploring jatropha-based livestock feed as a low-cost and sustainable replacement for grain. Such uses might be well matched to local contexts, Avila-Ortega concurs, though he remains concerned about prospective ecological expenses.

He suggests limiting jatropha growth in Mexico to make it a "crop that conquers land," growing it only in truly poor soils in need of restoration. "Jatropha might be one of those plants that can grow in extremely sterilized wastelands," he explains. "That's the only way I would ever promote it in Mexico - as part of a forest recovery strategy for wastelands. Otherwise, the associated issues are higher than the potential advantages."

Jatropha's worldwide future remains unsure. And its potential as a tool in the fight against climate change can only be unlocked, say numerous specialists, by avoiding the litany of problems associated with its first boom.

Will jatropha tasks that sputtered to a stop in the early 2000s be fired back up again? Subramanian believes its function as a sustainable biofuel is "imminent" and that the return is on. "We have strong interest from the energy industry 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 through Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

A liquid biofuels primer: Carbon-cutting hopes vs. real-world effects

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