Boy, jatropha has been getting quite a bit of press of late. Hype?
BP's answer to food-based ethanol
The
oil giant believes an inedible plant called jatropha can ease global
fuel demands. It could boost incomes in Africa and other impoverished
regions too.
By Carolyn Whelan, Fortune
September 7 2007: 6:02 AM EDT
(Fortune Magazine) -- Can a poisonous plant become a biodiesel hero and help African economies in the process?
BP (Charts)
thinks so. It believes jatropha - an inedible plant used for hedges
that was spread around the world centuries ago by Portuguese sailors -
can dent global fuel demands without using up foodstuffs such as corn,
soy and sugar cane, plus boost incomes in Africa and other impoverished
regions.
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| African hope: A farmer in Simiji, Mali, waters his jatropha crop. |
In
June the oil giant signed a $160 million deal with British biodiesel
producer Dl Oils, creating a joint venture that aims to become the
world's largest producer of jatropha oil by 2011. The new company
expects to have nearly three million acres under cultivation within
four years and process roughly two million tons annually - or 18% of
Europe's expected biodiesel demand.
"The deal with Dl is all
about developing a biofuels business," says BP spokeswoman Wendy
Silcock. Half of the 12 countries targeted for bulk plantings are in
Africa.
Because it can grow year-round in arid soil and is
inedible, jatropha won't innate food prices or take up valuable
cropland. Africa is considered ideal because of its proximity to
European markets and low land and labor costs. "Jatropha is low input,"
says Steve Douty, executive director of Dl Oils. "It survives where
others don't. It also grows best 25 degrees south or north of the
equator. A big chunk of Africa is in that band."
In addition,
Jatropha oil can be produced commercially within three years of
planting, compared with seven years for palm oil; plus, it is a living
fence that keeps cattle in and sand out and can survive for 50 years.
Best of all, jatropha seeds generate up to 40% of their weight in oil
with ample fertilizer and water, and 30% even in scrubland - far more
than soybeans' 18%.
Jatropha sap has long been used in Latin
American medicines for its antibacterial qualities. The seed is used
for fertilizer in Africa because it is rich in soil nutrients, and the
oil is used for French soaps. But pressing oil from its seeds for
energy is recent, and current production is negligible. Today jatropha
accounts for less than 1% of biodiesel fuel.
High oil prices
and the rising cost of food oils make jatropha attractive - as does a
looming European mandate requiring that 10% of all transport fuel be
biofuel by 2020. Global biodiesel output needs to grow more than
ninefold to meet that demand.
Jatropha is becoming
popular elsewhere as well. Energy-starved India led research into
jatropha and is believed to have nearly 250,000 acres under
cultivation. China reportedly has 100 times that. And in July,
SE-Energy Technology announced it will build the largest U.S. biodiesel
plant, using primarily jatropha, in Chesapeake, Va.
Even
private equity is getting in on the act, says Turi Munthe, a London
investor who is raising funds for a 124,000-acre jatropha plantation in
Ghana. "Africa is the place for it."
