If you liked this story, share it with other individuals.

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 degraded lands throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia.
A jatropha rush took place, with more than 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) planted by 2008. But the bubble burst. Low yields resulted in plantation failures nearly everywhere. The aftermath of the jatropha crash was polluted by accusations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.
Today, some researchers continue pursuing the promise of high-yielding jatropha. A comeback, they say, is reliant on breaking the yield issue and dealing with the damaging land-use concerns intertwined with its original failure.
The sole staying big jatropha plantation is in Ghana. The plantation owner declares high-yield domesticated ranges have been achieved and a brand-new boom is at hand. But even if this comeback falters, the world's experience of jatropha holds crucial lessons for any appealing up-and-coming biofuel.
At the start of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, a simple 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 degraded, unfertile lands so as not to displace food crops. But inflated claims of high yields failed.

Now, after years of research study and development, the sole remaining big plantation concentrated on growing jatropha is in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, declares the jatropha return is on.

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

Having gained from the errors of jatropha's past failures, he states the oily plant might yet play a crucial role as a liquid biofuel feedstock, reducing transportation carbon emissions at the international level. A new boom could bring fringe benefits, with jatropha likewise a potential source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some researchers are skeptical, keeping in mind that jatropha has currently gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They caution that if the plant is to reach complete potential, then it is important to gain from previous mistakes. During the very first boom, jatropha plantations were hampered not only by poor yields, but by land grabbing, deforestation, and social problems in nations where it was planted, including Ghana, where jOil runs.

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

Miracle shrub, major bust

Jatropha'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 several supposed virtues was an ability to grow on abject or "minimal" lands