As research and development continues to make biofuels commercially viable, one study says that jatropha yields will fall in the next decade and is only suited for local production.
And while many investors are upping the ante on the oil-seed shrub as biofuel feedstock, a study by the journal GCB Bioenergy said that the crop requires higher amounts of water than previously thought. Study co-authors Bart Muys and Antonio Trabucco, from the University of Leuven in Belgium, said jatropha should not be condemned as a failure but was better suited to development in southern rural communities, rather than a “market opportunity” for use as a biofuel in industrialized countries.
And while it is notable that jatropha’s yields are much higher, if more water is required then is it really that viable for Africa on even a small scale with the continent’s erratic weather?
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