Jatropha hype received a set back as a recent study questioned its ability to be a successful biofuel.
A study by ActionAid, an anti-poverty NGO, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Nature Kenya looked at whether biofuel made from jatropha grown in the Dakatcha woodlands in Kenya's coastal district of Malindi, could indeed be a green fuel.
It said the oil yield of the seed from plants grown on land earmarked for jatropha cultivation in Malindi would determine whether the shrub provided a viable alternative to fossil fuel.
Previous land use was another critical factor. The study found that throughout the production and consumption process in the Dakatcha woodlands, the jatropha would emit between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, largely because of clearing the forest, which stores massive amounts of carbon in its vegetation and soil, to make room for the plant.
Other studies have also found that the yield from jatropha can vary considerably, because contrary to the popular perception that it can thrive in semi-arid conditions, the plants need water and nutrients to produce high yields.
So, if an investment in irrigation and fertilizer is required, why not grow food crops instead, the study argued. Much of the biofuel from the Dakatcha woodlands project, when it starts producing, is destined for Europe to meet regional targets for switching to renewable energy.
The study underlined what a joint UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) report on jatropha had found in 2010 - that the shrub was useful as a bio-energy crop for cultivation by small-scale farmers.
ActionAid spokeswoman Natalie Curtis said jatropha could be grown between crops or as a hedge to divide fields, and the oil used as fuel for stoves, irrigation pumps and generators.
But even then, growing jatropha could prove uneconomical if there was no investment in developing higher oil-yielding, non-toxic varieties.
The Kenyan government has suspended clearing the full 50,000 hectares of forest, which would have displaced 20,000 people for the proposed plantation in Dakatcha, pending an environmental impact assessment, the study said.
“What concerns us is the growing move towards massive plantations of jatropha in developing countries,” said Coxon.
In 2008, jatropha was planted on an estimated 900,000 hectares globally; 760,000 hectares (85 percent of the total) were located in Asia, followed by Africa with 120,000 hectares and Latin America with 20,000 hectares. By 2015, jatropha would be planted on a projected 12.8 million hectares, according to an FAO report.
By comparison, maize, one of the world's major staple grain crops, is planted on more than 160 million hectares.
In another four years, Indonesia will be the largest jatropha producing country in Asia. In Africa, Ghana and Madagascar will be the biggest producers, while Brazil will be the main producer in Latin America
