Cheat sheet: Jatropha Curcas

So what's this Jatropha Curcas then?
It's a quite amazing plant and according to its supporters it's going to change the world.

I'm not falling for that again. The festival season ended a long time ago and anyway, it was making me very lethargic.
Not that sort of plant, this is a shrub, also known as the physic nut and it is being widely touted as the ideal plant from which to make second generation biofuels.

Ah, the physic nut? I might have tried that actually. Can you get it at the market?
I doubt it, it is actually poisonous and induces strong vomiting and diarrhea. so it's pretty unlikely that you have tried any. It is mainly grown in Central America, Asia and Africa where it is commonly used as a living fence to protect against animals. It can grow almost anywhere, takes little maintenance, and – this is the important bit – provides far higher yields of oil than many other conventional energy crops, making it ideal for use in biofuels.

That's why I'd heard about it. How come it has gone from keeping goats off the family beans to powering engines then?
Well, an estimated 30 per cent of the seed is made of oil that can be extracted by crushing the seeds. The resulting oil can be processed for use in a standard diesel car. The left over husks can be further processed for burning in biomass power plants, ensuring the whole process is pretty much carbon neutral.

There are plenty of energy crops out there for biofuels – sugar cane, soya, palm oil, good old corn – what's so good about jatropha?
First up, jatropha is a pretty efficient energy crop. According to some firms in the space, one hectare of plantation will give 1.6 tonnes, and it takes about four kilograms of seeds to make a litre of oil. But most importantly, it can be grown on arid marginal land that is not being used for other forms of agricu lture, meaning it side steps the accusation that energy crops are taking over land that could be used to grow food, driving up food prices and using valuable water. According to some studies, there are 30 million hectares of land across South American, Asia and Africa, which could be used for cultivating the plant.

Blimey, it all sounds pretty good. Who is using it then?
Plenty of companies are investing heavily in the plant. In the UK, D1 Oils is setting up plantations and is also undertaking breeding programmes to raise yields of oil from the seeds further. Mercedes has three cars testing jatropha-based biofuels and Goldman Sachs has been earmarked as a likely dominant force among second generation biofuels. Meanwhile, a coalition including biofuels specialist Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Company, chemicals giant Bayer CropScience and car manufacturer Daimler announced earlier this year they were joining forces to undertake a research project into the crop. Oh, and in Burma Jatropha Curcas it is actually a state issue.

Burma?
Yes, they might not wish to invite them to any conferences, but biofuel advocates have new some new converts in the form of the Burmese government. Apparently they have instructed the population, or as they like to call them, the "peasants" to grow as many of the Jatropha Curcas plants as possible, as part of a plan to replace imported diesel with biofuel. That said it's not just dictatorships looking for ways round international sanctions that are interested in jatropha-based biofuels. India and Mali have also announced plans to exploit the opportunity presented by growing demand for jatropha, while in Europe the Dutch and Belgiums have shown a lot of interest in the plant. In fact, Belgium announced plans for the first jatropha power plant earlier this year.

Anything else I need to know?
It's seeds are used as a contraceptive in South Sudan apparently, and it stains linen.

Thanks for that.