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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "miracle" biofuel. An unassuming shrubby tree native to Central America, it was extremely promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that might grow on abject lands across 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 resulted in plantation failures almost all over. The consequences of the jatropha crash was tainted by allegations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon reduction claims.
Today, some researchers continue pursuing the evasive promise of high-yielding jatropha. A resurgence, they state, depends on cracking the yield problem and resolving the harmful land-use issues linked with its original failure.
The sole staying big jatropha plantation is in Ghana. The plantation owner declares high-yield domesticated varieties have actually been attained and a new boom is at hand. But even if this comeback fails, the world's experience of jatropha holds essential lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.
At the start of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, an unassuming shrub-like tree native to Central America, was planted throughout the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its pledge as a sustainable source of biofuel that might 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 and development, the sole remaining large plantation concentrated on growing jatropha is in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, declares the jatropha comeback is on.

"All those companies that stopped working, embraced a plug-and-play design of hunting for the wild varieties of jatropha. But to commercialize it, you require to domesticate it. This belongs of the procedure that was missed out on [during the boom]," jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian informed Mongabay in an interview.

Having gained from the errors of jatropha's previous failures, he states the oily plant might yet play an essential role as a liquid biofuel feedstock, reducing transportation carbon emissions at the worldwide level. A new boom could bring fringe benefits, with jatropha likewise a prospective source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some scientists are hesitant, keeping in mind that jatropha has currently gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They warn that if the plant is to reach full capacity, then it is essential to gain from previous errors. During the first boom, jatropha plantations were obstructed not just by poor yields, but by land grabbing, logging, and social problems in nations where it was planted, consisting of Ghana, where jOil runs.

Experts also suggest that jatropha's tale provides lessons for scientists and entrepreneurs checking out appealing new sources for liquid biofuels - which exist aplenty.

Miracle shrub, major bust

Jatropha's early 21st-century appeal originated from its guarantee as a "second-generation" biofuel, which are sourced from grasses, trees and other plants not obtained from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its multiple purported virtues was a capability to prosper on abject or "minimal" lands