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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "miracle" biofuel. An unassuming shrubby tree belonging to Central America, it was extremely promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that might 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 led to plantation failures nearly all over. The consequences of the jatropha crash was tainted by accusations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon reduction claims.
Today, some researchers continue pursuing the evasive pledge of high-yielding jatropha. A resurgence, they state, is dependent on breaking the yield problem and attending to the hazardous land-use problems intertwined with its original failure.
The sole staying large jatropha plantation is in Ghana. The plantation owner claims high-yield domesticated ranges have actually been attained and a new boom is at hand. But even if this return falters, the world's experience of jatropha holds crucial lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.
At the start of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, a simple shrub-like tree native to Central America, was planted across the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its pledge 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 development, the sole staying big plantation concentrated on growing jatropha is in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, claims the jatropha resurgence is on.

"All those companies that failed, embraced a plug-and-play design of scouting for the wild varieties of jatropha. But to commercialize it, you need to domesticate it. This is a part of the procedure that was missed [throughout the boom]," jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian informed Mongabay in an interview.

Having gained from the errors of jatropha's previous failures, he says the oily plant could yet play an essential function as a liquid biofuel feedstock, decreasing transport carbon emissions at the international level. A new boom could bring extra advantages, 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 full potential, then it is essential to find out from past mistakes. During the very first boom, jatropha plantations were obstructed not just by poor yields, however by land grabbing, logging, and social issues in countries where it was planted, consisting of Ghana, where jOil runs.

Experts likewise recommend that jatropha's tale offers lessons for researchers and entrepreneurs exploring promising brand-new sources for liquid biofuels - which exist aplenty.

Miracle shrub, significant bust

jatropha curcas's early 21st-century appeal came from its guarantee as a "second-generation" biofuel, which are sourced from lawns, trees and other plants not stemmed from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its several purported virtues was an ability to flourish on degraded or "minimal" lands