The oil-rich and weedy plant jatropha has been hailed as the most promising source of biofuel on the planet, and one airline has already begun testing a jatropha-derived fuel in its jumbo jets. But a new analysis suggests that the plant may not be a miracle crop destined to solve all our energy problems: Current jatropha plantations are not realising the oil yields that drove the “Jatropha euphoria” [EcoWorldly].
It was previously thought that the hardy jatropha plant would require less water than other biofuel crops like sugarcane and corn and could grow in marginal soil, so growers wouldn’t have to take fertile land out of agricultural use. But the new study rebuts that assumption. “The claim that jatropha doesn’t compete for water and land with food crops is complete nonsense,” says study coauthor Arjen Hoekstra. The researcher says it’s true that the plant can grow with little water and can survive through periods of drought, but to flourish, it needs good growing conditions just like any other plant. “If there isn’t sufficient water, you get a low amount of oil production,” Hoekstra says [Technology Review].
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that making a single liter of jatropha biodiesel requires a whopping 20,000 liters of water to grow…. That’s more than canola, corn, soybeans or sugarcane — more, in fact, than any commonly used biofuel crop. The two closest, canola and soybeans, require about 14,000 liters each [BNET].
Still, some researchers note that jatropha is a wild plant that hasn’t yet been crossbred to maximize its yield of poisonous, oily seeds, and say they believe that jatropha will mature into a better biofuel producer. Any plant new to cultivation takes a period of time before it reaches an optimum tame form, and jatropha has only been in use for a few years. There are also companies like SG Biofuels … that are performing gene research on jatropha in hopes of extending its range and improving its yield [BNET]. Others suggest that jatropha can continue to fill a niche in the developing world, since turning its seeds into biodiesel is a straightforward process that doesn’t require a huge capital investment.
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Image: flickr / edwardyanquen
June 9th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Biofuels are probably not the answer.
Oils are hydrocarbons. Hydro from water, carbon from air. All plants photosynthesize, where they break CO2 into sugar via the cation interchange. Anyway, my point being that input=output and you can’t get more out of a plant than you put into it.
And, I mean, seriously, 14,000 liters of water for a single liter of fuel? That’s completely ridiculous from a sustainability standpoint – we need that water to live with, not drive with.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
It is a wild plant still. So comparing it to crops that have been under development for thousands of years is a bit unfair.
If it can grow in areas that are not currently farmed it has potential.
Bio-fuels do work. Look at Brazil. But their sugarcane is a much better plant than anything we have.
Yet.
I have issues with US corn ethanol. It is government regulation to help the “family farmer”. Archer Daniel Midland……
However, I feel bio-fuels do have a bright future.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:15 am
Can’t feel too hopeful about biofuels. As Nick says, the water-to-fuel ratio is ridiculous.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
It appears that people like comparing apples to oranges. Jatropha requires only a fraction of the input costs of other feedstocks, including water. In addition, to be fair, we need to review the entire lifecycle of the plant; from soil to combustion. This plant: is undomesticated, has a fraction of the land cost of food crops, yield (already higher then soy and canola) and a fraction of the inputs to get that yield (look at soy and canola). Finally, the FAO reports that there are 400m hectares (1m acres) available for rain fed crops.
June 11th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Finding the next fuel source for humanity is big business. If you are a young scientist you can help further the search for new energy sources by conducting your own experiments and developing energy science fair projects that test new biological and renewable energy sources.
June 13th, 2009 at 7:31 am
There are so many drawbacks in using Jatrpha for bi-fuel production. There are evidences and established facts that, bio-fuels are in use extracted from edible oils. But, in India, what will be the next alternative to fossil fuel consumption.
May I request you to provide the original papers and informatin on Jatropha.
Thanks,
dayanidhi Mishra
Scientist, Krishi Vigyan Kendra,
Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology,
Barchana, Jajpur
June 17th, 2009 at 4:04 am
My personal experience with oil extraction is claiming that the seed oil content is more than 40% out of 2500 sample I tested. So I think this plant need a little bit of attension and simultaneously support from the international environmental orgnizations to susidize research on all aspects of plantation of this plant.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Interesting water balance analysis. How do the various plant types and oil routes compare on yield of biofuel on a carbon dioxide uptake basis? After all, the stated objective is the carbon balance and cycle. What good is a lot of carbon captured in the plant stalk that likely decomposes into a good bit of methane that is reportedly 20 time worse than carbon dioxide regards global warming? Would it not we be better off with a bio syngas route to biofuels that would use total plant, not just the seed/fruit? The syngas route should eliminate methane and only releases unconverted carbon in the form of carbon dioxide?
Dr. Donald Stookey
Chesterfield, MO USA
August 6th, 2009 at 11:51 am
While this experiment in natural energy development was a failure, doesn’t mean that there isn’t some crop that will be effective and efficient to produce. Kids, you can help find such a plant based fuel by working on energy science fair projects.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 pm
see http://www.biospectrumindia.com