Jatropha Plant, the biodiesel shrub that grows in the desert, on trash heaps, and just about anywhere else

Today’s Wall Street Journal covers a common weed / shrub in India that is taking off as a source of biodiesel. It has the advantage of being able to grow just about anywhere, and it doesn’t really need much or any fertilizer or watering. It’s also inedible, so you aren’t growing a food crop just to burn up as fuel.

Still, jatropha’s allure is undeniable. Planting more palm oil, corn or other crops to make ethanol or biodiesel isn’t really an option due to land shortages and other constraints. Water tables are falling across India, and production of some key commodities like rice has already flattened out in recent years. The country could have trouble meeting its own food needs even without a biofuel boom.

First cultivated in South America, jatropha was brought to India long ago by Portuguese traders. Villagers used it as a hedge crop, and some extracted oil and latex from the plants to make soap or fuel for lamps. Many Indians recall using the latex from jatropha to blow bubbles when they were children.

The Indian government started getting excited about jatropha a decade ago. Officials were already worried about India’s energy security and asked a private, nonprofit research outfit called The Energy and Resources Institute to look into jatropha’s potential as a fuel source.

Researchers at TERI studied the plant in a lab on the sixth floor of their New Delhi offices, and were encouraged. “You can put it in any kind of soil, and it will grow,” says P.P. Bhojvaid, a senior fellow at TERI. If cared for properly, the plants can live up to 45 years.

As TERI made progress, other Indian leaders jumped on the bandwagon. Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam planted jatropha in his peacock-filled gardens in New Delhi and touted the plant in speeches to the nation. The state railway ministry began using jatropha last year to fuel some of its locomotives and planted 7.5 million jatropha plants along its tracks. The government ordered state-run oil companies to buy jatropha-made biodiesel at a minimum price of about 26 rupees a liter, or about $2.40 a gallon. Several of India’s local governments began handing out free saplings.

Sounds promising, no?

Here’s the video that goes with the article.

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