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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "miracle" biofuel. A simple shrubby tree belonging 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 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 consequences of the jatropha crash was tainted by allegations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.
Today, some scientists continue pursuing the incredibly elusive guarantee of high-yielding jatropha. A return, they say, is dependent on splitting the yield problem and dealing with the harmful land-use issues intertwined with its initial failure.
The sole remaining large jatropha plantation remains in Ghana. The plantation owner declares high-yield domesticated ranges have been attained and a new boom is at hand. But even if this return fails, the world's experience of jatropha holds important lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, an unassuming 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 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 and development, the sole remaining big plantation focused on growing jatropha is in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, declares the jatropha comeback is on.

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

Having learned from the mistakes of jatropha's past failures, he says the oily plant might yet play an essential function as a liquid biofuel feedstock, decreasing transport carbon emissions at the international level. A brand-new boom might bring fringe benefits, with jatropha also a possible source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some researchers are hesitant, keeping in mind that jatropha curcas has actually already gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They caution that if the plant is to reach complete potential, then it is necessary to discover from previous errors. During the very first boom, jatropha plantations were hindered not just by poor yields, but by land grabbing, deforestation, and social problems in countries where it was planted, consisting of Ghana, where jOil operates.

Experts also suggest that jatropha's tale uses lessons for researchers and entrepreneurs exploring appealing new sources for liquid biofuels - which exist aplenty.

Miracle shrub, major bust

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