| I know all of you are wondering why I am writing | | | | * it does not exhaust the nutrients in the land |
| about a little known plant called "Jatropha Curcas". | | | | * it does not require expensive crop rotation |
| Well... it all has to do with making biodiesel and the | | | | * it does not require fertilizers |
| production of electricity using biodiesel as a fuel. This | | | | * it grows quickly and establishes itself easily |
| is to inform you of a source of vegetable oil that is | | | | * it has a high yield (Jatropha can yield about 1,000 |
| relatively unknown in the United States and North | | | | barrels of oil per year per square mile - oil content of |
| America. The European community has already seen | | | | the seed is 55-60%) |
| the light as have some Asian, African, Indian, and | | | | * no displacement of food crops is necessary |
| South American countries. Running engines on | | | | * it is great for developing countries in terms of |
| vegetable oil is nothing new... did you know that | | | | energy and jobs |
| Rudolf Diesel originally designed his engine to run on | | | | * the biodiesel byproduct, glycerine, is profitable in |
| peanut oil? Maybe the US has not seen the light yet | | | | itself |
| because we are mostly engaged in the growing of | | | | * the waste plant mass after oil extraction can be |
| food crops and oils like soybean oil, rapeseed oil, | | | | used as a fertilizer |
| sunflower oil, and peanut oil. All these oils are edible | | | | * the plant itself recycles 100% of the CO2 |
| and thus fetch high prices. After all, why should US | | | | emissions produced by burning the biodieselThat's a |
| farmers grow a completely inedible plant!? Used | | | | whole lot of benefit with little or no |
| cooking oil is great for the "do it yourself" biodiesel | | | | disadvantages!The European Union biofuels directive |
| enthusiast, but there is not enough supply of used | | | | requires a minimum level of biofuels as a proportion |
| cooking oil to supply a whole nation. | | | | of fuels sold in the European Union of 2% by 2005, |
| This is where Jatropha comes in...Jatropha has the | | | | 5.75% by 2010 and 20% by 2020. Of course, as the |
| following benefits when looked at from the fuel | | | | President stated recently on TV, we don't have any |
| production angle:* it costs almost nothing to grow | | | | such energy program yet. And I doubt we will |
| * it is drought resistant | | | | anytime soon. The main green fuels will be ethanol |
| * it can be grown almost anywhere - even in sandy, | | | | and biodiesel, and demand for biodiesel is expected |
| saline, or otherwise infertile soil | | | | to be up to 10.5 billion litres just in European countries |
| * it is easy to propagate (a cutting simply pushed | | | | by 2010.Folks... this "biodiesel" thing is going to happen |
| into the ground will take root) | | | | whether you like it or not! I know there are a lot of |
| * it is not invasive, or spreading, or damaging like | | | | farmers, entrepreneurs, and investors reading this |
| kudzu | | | | who can cash in on this biodiesl craze. They are |
| * it is capable of stabilizing sand dunes, acting as a | | | | already doing it big time in Europe so it's just a |
| windbreak, and combating desertification | | | | matter of time before it happens here. And by "it", I |
| * it naturally repels both animals and insects | | | | mean using Jatropha to make biodiesel. This industry |
| * it lives for over 50 years producing seeds all the | | | | will grow very quickly - start planting Jatropha |
| time | | | | TODAY and then start making biodiesel to generate |
| * it is frost hardy (does not like hard freezes) | | | | your own electricity! |