JATROPHA, known as 'Ratanjyot' or 'Jangli Errund', is a small shrub three to five metres in height. The fruits are bi-lobed capsules, ovoid green, and in cluster of 7-10, which on ripening turn yellow or dark coloured.
The plant can be grown anywhere, even on gravel, sandy and saline soils. It can thrive on the poorest stony soil and even in the crevices of rocks.
A global search for alternative energy source is on. Bio-energy can be produced from organic matter or bio-mass that stores such chemical energy which can be converted into heat and power. Bio-fuels, being energy carriers, can be derived from bio-mass. Among the viable and strategically significant food crops to convert their biomass into economic fuels are ethnol and bio-diesel.
Those bio-mass used for ethanol production include sugars and for bio-diesels, oils are utilised. About 70-80 per cent of total ethanol in Brazil is produced from sugarcane and in the United States from maize. Similarly bio-diesel is produced from vegetable oils (rape, canola, palm, soybean, corn oil and animal fats).
In the European Union almost 47 per cent of vegetable oil produced is used for bio-diesel production. Search for alternative bio-energy generating crops continued over the last several years and about 100 plant species bearing seed with oil contents were evaluated for production of bio-diesel. Amongst them some promising ones for bio-diesel production are Jatropha curcas, Pongamia pinnata (honge or karanj) and castor (erandi).
In Pakistan, the annual demand for diesel is about 10 million tons, a large portion of which is imported. President Asif Ali Zardari has recently set up a committee to formulate a proposal for 50 per cent reduction in diesel imports by alternative sources of energy.
A comparative study has proved that among non-edible oil plants, Jatropha curcas is one of the most important plants for production of bio-diesel. It is also a sustainable option among bio-energy crops largely grown in most parts of the tropical and sub-tropical countries on marginal and non-productive lands.
India has already cultivated Jatropha curcas on 500,000-600,000 hectares. British Petroleum (BP) has invested 32 million pounds sterling in a joint venture with the British bio-fuel firm D.I. Oils to further expand Jatropha cultivation and production. About 80 oil extraction units and several local micro-refineries provide bio-diesel on small scale for running local tractors, irrigation pumps, jeeps and village power generators etc.
China has cultivated Jatropha on two million hectares and plans to grow it on another 11 million hectares. Similarly Myanmar plans to plant it on several million hectares, and Philippines on 50,000 hectares. To discourage cultivation of poppy in Afghanistan, Americans have provided saplings of Jatropha with the offer to buy bio-diesel from it. The US intends to plant Jatropha over one million hectares in Afghanistan.
In Africa, Jatropha is also being cultivated in various countries with that purpose in mind. In southern Egypt, the desert area has been converted into greenbelt by large scale planting of Jatropha. In South Africa, the Emerald Oil International (Pvt.) Ltd. has initiated a bio-diesel plant in Durban, which will produce 100,000 tons of bio-diesel per year and plans to import Jatropha curcas oil or its seeds for oil extraction from African states.
A number of NGOs and European-based oil companies are running projects for large scale plantation of Jatropha as well as installing bio-diesel plants in various African and Asian countries for bio-diesel's subsequent export to the European Union..
Jatropha curcas is of great value as a bio-diesel plant for the following advantages
It can adapt itself to a wide range of agro-climatic conditions and grow in arid and semi-arid regions, on sides of highways, railway tracks and roads, on sandy, gravelly, saline, alkaline and even on the poorest stony soil and rock crevices. The plant is drought-resistant and does very well even with low rainfall and poor irrigation facilities. It requires minimum tillage operations to establish itself. Plantation of Jatropha is also beneficial for environment.
The plant produces nuts after two to three years. The economic yield, however, stabilises after 4-5 years and continues to produce seeds for 50 years. The nuts of Jatropha possess high oil content between 35 and 40 per cent.
Seeds of Jatropha are easy to harvest as the plant is not very tall and the plants are not browsed by animals. Once established, it continues to provide seeds for nearly 45 years. It can be propagated easily by cuttings as well as by seeds
Jatropha oilcake when composted could be used for organic farming as synthetic nitrogen fertiliser because it possesses high grade nitrogen and other basic nutrients.
The plant also has medicinal value. Its latex contains alkaloid 'Jatrophine', which is used for the treatment of cancer, as an antiseptic, and for the treatment of many other diseases.
Glyseroid, being the by-product after trans-esterification of Jatropha oil is of economic significance, as it is used in various chemical and pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.
Jatropha curcas is the most sustainable option for bio-diesel source, and is recognised as a miracle plant for this century.
These plants yield about 1-3 tons of seeds per acre, depending upon the soil condition and management techniques. In well managed areas, one acre of Jatropha produces about 0.45 to 0.6 metric ton of oil. The oil has triglycerides, which when chemically treated with lower alcohols in the presence of catalyst results in fatty acid esters, which possesses striking resemblance with petroleum derived diesel and is called bio-diesel. From 4kg oil approximately one liter of bio-diesel can be produced.
Crude Jatropha oil can be directly used in agricultural machinery without oil and engine modification. However, the quality of oil becomes better on its conversion into bio-diesel.
Bio-diesel becomes more attractive when its environmental benefits are also confirmed. Exhaust gas emission from Jatropha bio-diesel further proved its efficiency in reducing fuel gas pollution.
Bio-diesel from Jatropha is economical as compared to other of its kind and has been regarded as a suitable alternative to fuel diesel, which proved eco-friendly too. The US departments of energy and agriculture have concluded that bio-diesel reduces net carbon dioxide emission by 78 per cent compared to petroleum diesel.
The transport sector worldwide utilises diesel. Jatropha produced bio-diesel, as an alternative source, can be used as a pure fuel or can be blended in different percentages with petroleum diesel oil.
In different countries, it is blended with petroleum diesel in the ratio of 20 80 per cent and used in all sorts of diesel engines. Such a mixture proved to have significant environmental benefits with low unburned hydrocarbons emissions, carbon monoxide and particulate matter.
Many automobile builders have already accepted bio-diesel as vehicle suitable even for their existing vehicle diesel engines. Though bio-diesel is recommended for use in almost all diesel-run vehicles, the fuel must meet the specifications of ASTM/DIN, being international accredited standard. Bio-diesel is much better lubricant than conventional diesel fuel which extends engine life.
To reduce import of diesel, it is suggested that Jatropha curcas should be cultivated on large scale on waste lands including deserted belts and kalar affected soils without delay.
The installation of oil extraction units would necessitate the import of trans-esterification plants for which the government will have to provide suitable incentives. A number of such bio-diesel plants when tapped as a renewable alternative bio-energy source would greatly help minimise the import of diesel in Pakistan and would also open up bio-diesel export opportunities.
Growing this diesel fuel plant would improve environment, stimulate economic growth, reduce country's dependence on import of fossil diesel and provide better livelihood and well being to poor masses in the rural areas.