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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "miracle" biofuel. An unassuming shrubby tree belonging to Central America, it was hugely promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that might grow on abject lands throughout 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 nearly everywhere. The after-effects of the jatropha crash was tainted by accusations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.
Today, some scientists continue pursuing the incredibly elusive promise of high-yielding jatropha. A comeback, they state, is dependent on cracking the yield issue and addressing the damaging land-use concerns linked with its original failure.
The sole remaining big jatropha curcas plantation is in Ghana. The plantation owner declares high-yield domesticated varieties have actually been achieved and a new boom is at hand. But even if this return falters, the world's experience of jatropha holds important lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.
At the start of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, a simple shrub-like tree belonging to Central America, was planted throughout the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its guarantee as a sustainable source of biofuel that could be grown on broken down, unfertile lands so as not to displace food crops. But inflated claims of high yields failed.

Now, after years of research study and development, the sole remaining large plantation focused on growing jatropha curcas is in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, claims the jatropha comeback is on.

"All those business that failed, adopted a plug-and-play model of scouting for the wild ranges of jatropha. But to advertise it, you need to domesticate it. This belongs of the process that was missed out on [throughout the boom]," jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian told Mongabay in an interview.

Having gained from the errors of jatropha's past failures, he says the oily plant could yet play a key function as a liquid biofuel feedstock, reducing transport carbon emissions at the . A brand-new boom might bring fringe benefits, with jatropha also a prospective source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some researchers are skeptical, keeping in mind that jatropha has actually already gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They warn that if the plant is to reach complete potential, then it is important to find out from past errors. During the first boom, jatropha plantations were hampered not only by bad yields, however by land grabbing, logging, and social problems in countries where it was planted, consisting of Ghana, where jOil runs.

Experts likewise suggest that jatropha's tale uses lessons for scientists and business owners checking out appealing new sources for liquid biofuels - which exist aplenty.

Miracle shrub, significant bust

Jatropha's early 21st-century appeal came from its pledge as a "second-generation" biofuel, which are sourced from grasses, trees and other plants not derived from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its several supposed virtues was an ability to prosper on degraded or "marginal" lands