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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "wonder" biofuel. A simple shrubby tree native to Central America, it was extremely promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that might grow on abject lands throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia.
A jatropha rush took place, with more than 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) planted by 2008. But the bubble burst. Low yields caused plantation failures almost everywhere. The after-effects of the jatropha crash was tainted by allegations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.
Today, some researchers continue pursuing the evasive pledge of high-yielding jatropha. A comeback, they state, depends on cracking the yield issue and attending to the hazardous land-use problems linked with its initial failure.
The sole staying large jatropha plantation remains in Ghana. The plantation owner claims high-yield domesticated ranges have actually been achieved and a new boom is at hand. But even if this comeback fails, the world's experience of jatropha holds important 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 pledge 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 fell flat.

Now, after years of research and advancement, the sole staying big plantation concentrated on growing jatropha remains in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, declares the jatropha comeback is on.

"All those business that stopped working, adopted a plug-and-play design of searching for the wild ranges of jatropha. But to commercialize it, you require to domesticate it. This is a part of the process that was missed [throughout 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, lowering transportation carbon emissions at the worldwide level. A new boom could bring fringe benefits, with jatropha also a potential source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some researchers are hesitant, noting that jatropha has actually already gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They caution that if the plant is to reach full potential, then it is necessary to gain from past errors. During the very first boom, jatropha plantations were hampered not only by poor yields, however by land grabbing, logging, and social problems in countries where it was planted, consisting of Ghana, where jOil operates.

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

Miracle shrub, significant 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 obtained from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its several purported virtues was a capability to thrive on abject or "limited" lands