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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "miracle" biofuel. An unassuming shrubby tree native to Central America, it was hugely promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that might grow on degraded lands across Latin America, Africa and Asia.
A jatropha rush ensued, with more than 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) planted by 2008. But the bubble burst. Low yields caused plantation failures nearly all over. The consequences of the jatropha crash was polluted by accusations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon reduction claims.
Today, some scientists continue pursuing the evasive promise of high-yielding jatropha. A comeback, they say, depends on breaking the yield issue and attending to the harmful land-use issues linked with its original failure.
The sole remaining big jatropha plantation is in Ghana. The plantation owner claims high-yield domesticated varieties have actually been attained and a brand-new boom is at hand. But even if this return falters, the world's experience of jatropha holds crucial lessons for any promising up-and-coming biofuel.
At the beginning 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 promise 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 fell flat.

Now, after years of research study and development, the sole remaining big plantation concentrated on growing jatropha remains in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, claims the jatropha resurgence is on.

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

Having gained from the mistakes of jatropha's previous failures, he says the oily plant could yet play a crucial role as a liquid biofuel feedstock, decreasing transportation carbon emissions at the international level. A brand-new boom might bring extra benefits, with jatropha likewise a potential source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some scientists are skeptical, keeping in mind that jatropha has actually currently gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They caution that if the plant is to reach complete capacity, then it is vital to find out from previous mistakes. During the very first boom, jatropha curcas plantations were obstructed not only by poor yields, however by land grabbing, logging, and social problems in countries where it was planted, including Ghana, where jOil operates.

Experts also recommend that jatropha's tale offers lessons for researchers and business owners exploring promising brand-new sources for liquid biofuels - which exist aplenty.

Miracle shrub, major bust

Jatropha's early 21st-century appeal stemmed from its guarantee 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 multiple purported virtues was an ability to prosper on abject or "limited" lands