Jatropha Being Developed as a New Biodiesel Source

Jatropha, remember it because the stuff will grow and flourish anywhere. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Daimler AG (DIA) and Bayer AG (BAY) are studying the use of the plant. Folks, this is huge. Why?

ADM is going to study the conversion into biodiesel, Daimler is going to study its interaction with car engines and Bayer is going to produce herbicides, insecticides and fungicides for Jatropha plants. Essentially we have farm to engine collarborative here.

Jatropha is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds containing up to 40% oil. When the seeds are crushed and processed, the resulting oil can be used in a standard diesel engine, while the residue can also be processed into biomass to power electricity plants. The best part is that because it is so hardy, it can be planted on lands that currently do not have agricultural uses (barren land), bypassing the "food vs fuel" debate.

In a statement, the companies said, "Biodiesel derived from Jatropha nut kernels has properties similar to those of biofuels obtained from oilseed rapes. It is also characterised by a positive CO2 balance and can thus contribute to protecting the climate."

Now, is this going to affect ADM in 2008? No. But the big thing is this is a plant that can be grown in the US Southwest in lands currently uncultivated due to their climate. This is a long term story and as time goes by, its significance will grow dramatically.

Disclosure: Long ADM.

Comments

[cocomojo:]

This is especially interesting to a New Mexican. We have so much land that is only usefull for cattle and sheep ranching that could be used for this and the cattle and sheep could be moved back to their traditional ranges higher up in the mountains in rougher country where there is better water for them anyway.

2008 Jan 13 05:32 PM

[vboring:]

this is a boring story until it includes economic analysis of harvesting and processing costs and the risks of movement towards an electric transportation scheme using a mix of renewable electric energy sources.

essentially, why would i grow trees, harvest and process the nuts, transport the oil across the country, just to burn it in an inefficient internal combustion engine?

wouldn't it make more sense to increase the production of renewable energy nationwide and use this to charge batteries or fuel cells or ultracapacitors or who-knows-what?

2008 Jan 14 05:53 PM

[smokey:]

Shaun, you have a good point, though I don't actually feel negative about the article on jatropha, which sounds like a nice, "juicy" plant.

Insofar as hybrid cars (and trains, for that matter), I think compressed air is probably the most efficient method of storing energy (and I am apparently correct, according to the recent cover story in Scientific American, which proposes compressed air as a means of storing energy from solar).

Of course, I don't mean to imply that any one method should dominate the energy sector -- that would be the same idiotic mistake that our oil/coal/nuclear based economy was based on originally, and why we're in a polluted, violent, screwed up world. Certainly batteries and ultra-capacitors have already shown their worth, and will continue to do so.

2008 Jan 15 12:19 PM

[DaveM:]

Jatropha is a great plant - it has been known for a while in the biodiesel industry that it's seeds can be very helpful in the quest to create biodiesel. However, before buying equipment manufacturers who could 'harvest' this plant, we might want to study how it grows. To my knowledge, it is more like a tree, making it difficult to harvest without a huge amount of manual labor. Fine for SE Asia, but not so great for SW USA. Also I've heard that the fruits / seeds ripen at various times, making it difficult to go through the fields once to pick - often requiring sevral trips.

This is a huge opportunity for US biodiesel production, though. If we can solve these issues, it'll have a huge impact on our quest for a fuel that is not a food. Of course, there is inherent value in having uncultivated land in the Southwest, which means we should proceed with caution.

2008 Mar 05 08:26 PM

[bijan:]

The full picture of biodiesel is never disclosed. It is also difficult to give a final opinian

2008 Jun 03 03:26 AM