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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "wonder" biofuel. A simple shrubby tree belonging to Central America, it was wildly promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that could 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 resulted in plantation failures almost all over. The after-effects of the jatropha crash was tainted by allegations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon reduction claims.
Today, some scientists continue pursuing the incredibly elusive pledge of high-yielding jatropha. A comeback, they say, depends on breaking the yield issue and dealing with the harmful land-use issues intertwined with its original failure.
The sole remaining large jatropha plantation is in Ghana. The plantation owner declares high-yield domesticated varieties have actually been accomplished and a new boom is at hand. But even if this comeback falters, 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 native to Central America, was planted throughout the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its guarantee as a sustainable source of biofuel that might be grown on degraded, 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 concentrated on growing jatropha remains in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, claims the jatropha comeback is on.

"All those companies that stopped working, embraced a plug-and-play design of searching for the wild varieties of jatropha. But to advertise it, you need 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 errors of jatropha's past failures, he states the oily plant could yet play a crucial function as a liquid biofuel feedstock, minimizing transport carbon emissions at the global level. A new boom could bring fringe benefits, with jatropha also a potential source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some scientists are hesitant, 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 potential, then it is vital to gain from past errors. During the first boom, jatropha plantations were obstructed not just by poor yields, however by land grabbing, logging, and social issues in nations where it was planted, including Ghana, where jOil runs.

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

Miracle shrub, significant bust

Jatropha's early 21st-century appeal came from its promise as a "second-generation" biofuel, which are sourced from lawns, trees and other plants not stemmed from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its numerous purported virtues was an ability to grow on degraded or "limited" lands