fuel [issue], said Dalton. It grows to full maturity within five years and you can get a commercial harvest within one to two years, said Dalton. In Africa, cultivation of Jatropha is being promoted and is grown successfully in countries such as Mali. Air New Zealand is planning a 747 jumbo jet flight from Auckland in the fall of 2008 powered by fuel refined from the seed of a fast-growing plant.
As the Jatropha plant flowers, it produces small green fruit at the end of its stalks that contain oil-bearing seeds. But as farmers get ready to increase Jatropha production, some critics fear the potential ecological impact. Researchers say 20 pounds of seeds will produce one gallon of Jatropha oil, and they are hailing Jatropha for yielding four times the fuel per acre as soy and ten times more than corn. are looking to a tropical plant rarely grown in America as their newest cash crop: Jatropha curcas, the hottest biofuel buzzword on the market.
The jatropha oil is also significantly cheaper than crude oil. When I touch this plant and feel this plant the first thing that comes to my mind is yield and cash flow, said Bryan Beer, a Jatropha farmer. The United States is ahead of the curve when it comes to things like production of oil from soy and corn, said Roy Beckford, a researcher at the University of Florida — but those biofuel sources aren’t without their problems. Currently the oil from Jatropha curcas seeds is used for making biodiesel fuel in Philippines, promoted by a law authored by Philippine senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Miguel Zubiri.
For centuries, poor farmers in the tropics have used the oil from crushed up Jatropha fruit as fuel for lanterns — but now they’re not the only ones looking for a cheap source of fuel. Seed yields under cultivation can range from 1,500 to 2,000 kilograms per hectare, corresponding to extractable oil yields of 540 to 680 liters per hectare. It grows up to 50 years and it uses far less water and far less fertilizer than traditional Florida crops, said Jatropha grower Paul Dalton and CEO of My Dream Fuel LLC. Beckford said that a conflict emerges when growers divert their crops toward fuel production, driving up prices across the board.
It could cost an estimated $43 a barrel, or about one-third of June 4, 2008 closing price of $122 for a barrel of crude oil. But as the cost of oil and gasoline continues to rise, any alternative source of fuel is going to get a lot of attention. Estimates of Jatropha seed yield vary widely, due to a lack of research data, the genetic diversity of the crop, the range of environments in which it is grown, and Jatropha’s perennial life cycle. It’s just a matter of time before we can produce it.
Jatropha is drought-resistant and grows well even in sand, so some Florida farmers are uprooting their citrus groves to plant it. India has probably more than eight million acres right now, he said. Citrus requires a much greater amount of care and water to thrive, and crops have been devastated in recent years by the effects of canker and greening. It is not a food vs.
The three-hour test flight could mark one of the more promising — and more unusual — steps by the financially strapped airline industry to find cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives to fossil fuel. The rail line between Mumbai and Delhi is planted with Jatropha and the train itself runs on 15-20% biodiesel. For now, India and China are way ahead of the United States in terms of production, said Beckford, who estimates that less than 100 acres of the plant are currently growing in America. It may turn out to be an ideal crop for Florida, which offers the tropical climate the plant requires.
Jatropha can also be intercropped with other cash crops such as coffee, sugar, fruits and vegetables. Likewise, jatropha oil is being promoted as an easily grown biofuel crop in hundreds of projects throughout India and other developing countries.
