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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 resulted in plantation failures almost all over. The aftermath of the jatropha crash was tainted by accusations 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 state, is reliant on splitting the yield problem and resolving the harmful land-use issues intertwined with its initial failure.
The sole remaining large jatropha plantation remains in Ghana. The plantation owner claims high-yield domesticated ranges have been achieved and a brand-new boom is at hand. But even if this return fails, the world's experience of jatropha holds essential lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.
At the start of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, an unassuming shrub-like tree belonging to Central America, was planted across the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its guarantee as a sustainable source of biofuel that might 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 concentrated on growing jatropha is in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, claims the jatropha resurgence is on.

"All those business that failed, embraced a plug-and-play design of searching for the wild varieties of jatropha. But to commercialize it, you need to domesticate it. This belongs of the process that was missed [during the boom]," jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian informed Mongabay in an interview.

Having found out from the errors of jatropha's past failures, he states the oily plant might yet play an essential role as a liquid biofuel feedstock, minimizing transport carbon emissions at the worldwide level. A new boom might bring fringe benefits, with jatropha curcas also a potential source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some researchers are skeptical, noting that jatropha has actually already gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They warn that if the plant is to reach complete potential, then it is necessary to gain from previous errors. During the very first boom, jatropha plantations were hindered not just 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 scientists and entrepreneurs 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 pledge as a "second-generation" biofuel, which are sourced from yards, trees and other plants not stemmed from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its several purported virtues was a capability to grow on abject or "limited" lands