Jatropha for Biodiesel

Jatropha is an oilseed crop that grows well where- it is frost hardy (does not like hard freezes)
food crops will not grow. This article is about using- it does not exhaust the nutrients in the land
Jatropha seed oil for biodiesel production.- it does not require expensive crop rotation
I know all of you are wondering why I am writing about- it does not require fertilizers
a little known plant called "Jatropha Curcas". Well... it all- it grows quickly and establishes itself easily
has to do with making biodiesel and the production of- it has a high yield (Jatropha can yield about 1,000
electricity using biodiesel as a fuel. This is to inform youbarrels of oil per year per square mile - oil content of
of a source of vegetable oil that is relatively unknownthe seed is 55-60%)
in the United States and North America. The European- no displacement of food crops is necessary
community has already seen the light as have some- it is great for developing countries in terms of energy
Asian, African, Indian, and South American countries.and jobs
Running engines on vegetable oil is nothing new... did- the biodiesel byproduct, glycerine, is profitable in itself
you know that Rudolf Diesel originally designed his- the waste plant mass after oil extraction can be
engine to run on peanut oil? Maybe the US has notused as a fertilizer
seen the light yet because we are mostly engaged in- the plant itself recycles 100% of the CO2 emissions
the growing of food crops and oils like soybean oil,produced by burning the biodiesel
rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, and peanut oil. All these oilsThat's a whole lot of benefit with little or no
are edible and thus fetch high prices. After all, whydisadvantages!
should US farmers grow a completely inedible plant!?The European Union biofuels directive requires a
Used cooking oil is great for the "do it yourself"minimum level of biofuels as a proportion of fuels sold
biodiesel enthusiast, but there is not enough supply ofin the European Union of 2% by 2005, 5.75% by 2010
used cooking oil to supply a whole nation.and 20% by 2020. Of course, as the President stated
This is where Jatropha comes in...recently on TV, we don't have any such energy
Jatropha has the following benefits when looked atprogram yet. And I doubt we will anytime soon. The
from the fuel production angle:main green fuels will be ethanol and biodiesel, and
- it costs almost nothing to growdemand for biodiesel is expected to be up to 10.5 billion
- it is drought resistantlitres just in European countries by 2010.
- it can be grown almost anywhere - even in sandy,Folks... this "biodiesel" thing is going to happen whether
saline, or otherwise infertile soilyou like it or not! I know there are a lot of farmers,
- it is easy to propagate (a cutting simply pushed intoentrepreneurs, and investors reading this who can
the ground will take root)cash in on this biodiesl craze. They are already doing it
- it is not invasive, or spreading, or damaging like kudzubig time in Europe so it's just a matter of time before it
- it is capable of stabilizing sand dunes, acting as ahappens here. And by "it", I mean using Jatropha to
windbreak, and combating desertificationmake biodiesel. This industry will grow very quickly -
- it naturally repels both animals and insectsstart planting Jatropha TODAY and then start making
- it lives for over 50 years producing seeds all the timebiodiesel to generate your own electricity!