Jatropha: The Biofuel That Bombed Seeks A Path To Redemption

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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "wonder" 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 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 caused plantation failures almost all over. The after-effects of the jatropha crash was polluted by allegations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.

Today, some scientists continue pursuing the incredibly elusive promise of high-yielding jatropha. A return, they state, is reliant on splitting the yield issue and attending to the hazardous land-use problems linked with its initial failure.

The sole remaining large jatropha plantation remains in Ghana. The plantation owner claims high-yield domesticated ranges have been achieved and a brand-new boom is at hand. But even if this return fails, the world's experience of jatropha holds important lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.


At the start of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, an unassuming shrub-like tree native to Central America, was planted across the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its promise as a sustainable source of biofuel that could 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 staying 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 stopped working, adopted a plug-and-play model of scouting for the wild varieties of jatropha. But to advertise it, you need to domesticate it. This is a part of the procedure that was missed [during the boom]," jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian told Mongabay in an interview.


Having gained from the errors of jatropha's previous failures, he states the oily plant could yet play a crucial function as a liquid biofuel feedstock, lowering transportation carbon emissions at the international level. A new boom could bring additional benefits, with jatropha also a possible source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.


But some researchers are doubtful, keeping in mind that jatropha has actually currently gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They caution that if the plant is to reach complete potential, then it is vital to gain from past errors. During the first boom, jatropha plantations were hampered not just by bad yields, but by land grabbing, deforestation, and social problems in countries where it was planted, consisting of Ghana, where jOil operates.


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, significant bust


Jatropha's early 21 originated from its guarantee as a "second-generation" biofuel, which are sourced from yards, trees and other plants not originated from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its numerous supposed virtues was an ability to thrive on abject or "marginal" lands; hence, it was declared it would never ever complete with food crops, so the theory went.


Back then, 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 too much fertilizer, a lot of pesticides, or excessive need for water, that can be exported [as fuel] abroad, and does not take on food since it is poisonous."


Governments, international companies, investors and companies bought into the hype, introducing initiatives 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 got ready for WWF.


It didn't take long for the mirage of the amazing biofuel tree to fade.


In 2009, a Friends of the Earth report from Eswatini (still known at the time as Swaziland) cautioned that jatropha's high demands for land would indeed bring it into direct dispute with food crops. By 2011, an international review noted that "cultivation surpassed 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 flourish on minimal 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 fail as expected yields declined to materialize. Jatropha could grow on abject lands and endure drought conditions, as claimed, however yields stayed bad.


"In my viewpoint, this combination of speculative financial investment, export-oriented capacity, and possible to grow under relatively poorer conditions, produced a huge issue," resulting in "undervalued yields that were going to be produced," Gasparatos states.


As jatropha plantations went from boom to bust, they were also afflicted by ecological, social and economic difficulties, state specialists. Accusations of land grabs, the conversion of food crop lands, and cleaning of natural areas were reported.


Studies discovered that land-use change for jatropha in nations such as Brazil, Mexico and Tanzania resulted in a loss of biodiversity. A research study from Mexico found the "carbon repayment" of jatropha plantations due to associated forest loss ranged between two and 14 years, and "in some situations, the carbon debt may never ever be recovered." In India, production showed carbon advantages, however using fertilizers led to increases of soil and water "acidification, ecotoxicity, eutrophication."


"If you look at most of the plantations in Ghana, they claim that the jatropha produced was located on limited land, but the concept of minimal land is extremely evasive," discusses 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 meaning of "minimal" indicated that presumptions that the land co-opted for jatropha plantations had been lying untouched and unused was typically illusory.


"Marginal to whom?" he asks. "The fact that ... presently no one is using [land] for farming does not mean that no one is utilizing it [for other purposes] There are a great deal of nature-based livelihoods on those landscapes that you may not necessarily see from satellite imagery."


Learning from jatropha


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


"There was a boom [in financial investment], however unfortunately not of research, and action was taken based on alleged benefits of jatropha," states 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 released a paper mentioning essential lessons.


Fundamentally, he describes, there was a lack of understanding about the plant itself and its needs. This crucial requirement for upfront research study could be applied to other potential biofuel crops, he states. In 2015, for example, his team released a paper examining the yields of pongamia (Millettia pinnata), a "fast-growing, leguminous and multipurpose tree types" with biofuel guarantee.


Like jatropha, pongamia can be grown on abject and minimal land. But Muys's research showed yields to be highly variable, contrary to other reports. The team concluded that "pongamia still can not be considered a significant and steady source of biofuel feedstock due to continuing understanding spaces." Use of such cautionary data could avoid wasteful financial speculation and reckless land conversion for new biofuels.


"There are other really promising trees or plants that might work as a fuel or a biomass producer," Muys states. "We desired to avoid [them going] in the exact same direction of early buzz and stop working, like jatropha."


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


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


How biofuel lands are acquired is also essential, says Ahmed. Based upon experiences in Ghana where communally used lands were acquired for production, authorities should guarantee that "standards are put in location to check how massive land acquisitions will be done and recorded in order to reduce some of the problems we observed."


A jatropha resurgence?


Despite all these challenges, some researchers still believe that under the best conditions, jatropha might be a valuable biofuel service - particularly for the difficult-to-decarbonize transport sector "responsible for roughly one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions."


"I believe jatropha has some potential, however it requires to be the right product, grown in the right 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 manner in which Qatar may minimize airline carbon emissions. According to his quotes, its usage as a jet fuel might result in about a 40% decrease of "cradle to grave" emissions.


Alherbawi's group is carrying out continuous field research studies to increase jatropha yields by fertilizing crops with sewage sludge. As an included advantage, he imagines a jatropha green belt spanning 20,000 hectares (nearly 50,000 acres) in Qatar. "The execution of the green belt can actually enhance the soil and agricultural lands, and secure them versus any additional degeneration triggered by dust storms," he states.


But the Qatar task's success still depends upon lots of factors, not least the ability to acquire quality yields from the tree. Another important action, Alherbawi describes, is scaling up production technology that uses the entirety of the jatropha fruit to increase processing efficiency.


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 describes that years of research and development have actually resulted in ranges of jatropha that can now accomplish the high yields that were doing not have more than a decade back.


"We were able to hasten the yield cycle, improve the yield range and enhance the fruit-bearing capacity of the tree," Subramanian says. In essence, he states, the tree is now domesticated. "Our very first project is to broaden our jatropha curcas plantation to 20,000 hectares."


Biofuels aren't the only application JOil is looking at. The fruit and its by-products could be a source of fertilizer, bio-candle wax, a charcoal replacement (crucial 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 resumed with the energy transition drive for oil companies and bio-refiners - [driven by] the search for alternative fuels that would be emission friendly."


A total jatropha life-cycle evaluation has yet to be completed, however he believes that cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions related to the oily plant will be "competitive ... These two aspects - that it is technically appropriate, and the carbon sequestration - makes it an extremely strong prospect for adoption for ... sustainable aviation," he states. "Our company believe any such growth will take place, [by clarifying] the definition of degraded land, [allowing] no competition with food crops, nor in any method endangering food security of any nation."


Where next for jatropha?


Whether jatropha can truly be carbon neutral, environment-friendly and socially responsible depends on complicated factors, including where and how it's grown - whether, for example, its production design is based in smallholder farms versus industrial-scale plantations, state professionals. Then there's the nagging problem of attaining high yields.


Earlier this year, the Bolivian federal government revealed its intention to pursue jatropha plantations in the Gran Chaco biome, part of a national biofuels press that has stirred dispute over possible repercussions. The Gran Chaco's dry forest biome is already in deep problem, having actually been heavily deforested by aggressive agribusiness practices.


Many previous plantations in Ghana, warns Ahmed, converted dry savanna woodland, which ended up being troublesome for carbon accounting. "The net carbon was typically negative in many of the jatropha sites, since the carbon sequestration of jatropha can not be compared to that of a shea tree," he explains.


Other researchers chronicle the "capacity of Jatropha curcas as an ecologically benign biodiesel feedstock" in Malaysia, Indonesia and India. But still other researchers stay doubtful of the environmental viability of second-generation biofuels. "If Mexico promotes biofuels, such as the exploitation of jatropha, the rebound is that it possibly becomes so effective, that we will have a lot of associated land-use change," 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 carried out research on the possibilities of jatropha adding to a circular economy in Mexico.


Avila-Ortega cites previous land-use problems associated with growth of various crops, including oil palm, sugarcane and avocado: "Our law enforcement is so weak that it can not handle the economic sector doing whatever they desire, in regards to producing ecological problems."


Researchers in Mexico are currently checking out jatropha-based animals feed as an affordable and sustainable replacement for grain. Such uses might be well suited to local contexts, Avila-Ortega concurs, though he remains worried about potential ecological expenses.


He suggests limiting jatropha expansion in Mexico to make it a "crop that dominates land," growing it just in genuinely poor soils in need of restoration. "Jatropha might be one of those plants that can grow in very sterilized wastelands," he discusses. "That's the only method I would ever promote it in Mexico - as part of a forest healing strategy for wastelands. Otherwise, the associated problems are greater than the potential benefits."


Jatropha's worldwide future stays uncertain. And its possible as a tool in the battle versus climate change can just be unlocked, state numerous professionals, by avoiding the list of difficulties related to 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 "impending" which the resurgence is on. "We have strong interest from the energy market now," he says, "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).


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