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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "miracle" biofuel. A simple shrubby tree native to Central America, it was hugely promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that could grow on abject lands across 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 led to plantation failures nearly all over. The aftermath of the jatropha crash was tainted by allegations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.
Today, some scientists continue pursuing the evasive pledge of high-yielding jatropha. A comeback, they state, depends on breaking the yield issue and addressing the hazardous land-use problems linked with its original failure.
The sole staying large jatropha plantation remains in Ghana. The plantation owner claims high-yield domesticated varieties have actually been achieved and a new boom is at hand. But even if this comeback fails, the world's experience of jatropha holds essential lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, an unassuming shrub-like tree native to Central America, was planted across 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 development, the sole remaining big plantation concentrated on growing jatropha remains in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, claims the jatropha return is on.

"All those business that stopped working, adopted a plug-and-play design of scouting for the wild ranges of jatropha. But to commercialize it, you need to domesticate it. This belongs of the process that was missed [throughout the boom]," jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian informed Mongabay in an interview.

Having discovered from the errors of jatropha's past failures, he states the oily plant might yet play an essential function as a liquid biofuel feedstock, decreasing transportation carbon emissions at the worldwide level. A brand-new boom might bring fringe benefits, with jatropha also a potential source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some researchers are doubtful, noting that jatropha has already gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They caution that if the plant is to reach full potential, then it is important to discover from past errors. During the first boom, jatropha plantations were obstructed not only by bad yields, but by land grabbing, deforestation, and social issues in countries where it was planted, including Ghana, where jOil runs.

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

Miracle shrub, major bust

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