Sunday, April 20, 2008

Jatropha Curcus and Biodiesel Futures


Around the global village, there is talk that the weed "Jatropha Curcus" could be the future of biodiesel. Jatropha can be used to make biodiesel very cost-effectively--it can be grown in poor soil conditions and needs little fertilizer. The food vs. fuel issue is avoided entirely, as the plant is not edible. To microfinance investors, the plant presents a great opportunity for farmers in poor countries who could benefit from this biodiesel crop that is easy to produce and in high demand.

According to a CNBC article, the Indian state railway's Mumbai-Delhi has been running on jatropha-sourced biodiesel since 2006. Technoserve, a non-profit operating in Latin America, developed a pilot project to test viability of jatropha production for farmers in Guatemala. The organization reported positive results at this stage in the project. Jatropha was a clear winner in their tests in comparison to other biofuel sources such as palm and rapeseed.

1 comment:

Jeremy said...

I enjoy reading random tid-bits about energy, but I really hope that the move away from oil is a move toward battery and advanced capacitor technologies powered by wind and solar power. Sure, biodiesel would have a much smaller CO2 output than that of moving "ancient sunlight" around the globe many times over, but I pray to FSM for a CO2-less energy infrastructure.
rock on!