Jatropha Curcas ‘Ratanjot in Hindi’ is a little known plant species in India. The plant is grown to about 3 meters high and produces seed that contain an inedible vegetable oil that is used to produce Biofuel. India is one of the first few countries that produce Jatropha as a source of fuel as there is a looming danger of using edible crops to meet our Biofuel demands. This creates a moral issue where the food price ultimately becomes linked to the price of fuel, the results of which are self explanatory.
Each Jatropha seed produces between 35% and 37% of its mass in oil. Whereas we are all aware of the directive that requires a minimum level of Biofuel as a proportion of fuels sold, there are insufficient sources of raw material (feedstock) for making biodiesel and other Biofuel for all motor vehicles. However the Jatropha plant has many benefits for farmers and supply to the country as a whole.
- It is drought resistant.
- It can be grown almost anywhere - even in sandy, saline, or otherwise infertile soil.
- It adapts well to marginal soils with low nutrient content.
- It is relatively easy to propagate.
- It is not invasive, damaging, or spreading like gorse.
- It is capable of stabilizing sand dunes, acting as a windbreak or combating desertification.
- It naturally repels insects and animals do not browse it.
- It lives for over 50 years producing seeds all the time.
- It is frost hardy (does not like hard freezes)
- It does not exhaust the nutrients in the land.
- It does not require expensive crop rotation.
- It does not require fertilizers.
- It grows quickly and establishes itself easily.
- It has a high yield
- No displacement of food crops is necessary.
- It is great for developing countries in terms of energy and jobs.
- The biodiesel byproduct, glycerin, is profitable in itself.
- The waste plant mass after oil extraction can be used as a fertilizer.
- The plant itself recycles 100% of the CO2 emissions produced by burning the biodiesel.
EWBioFuel & ReEnergy (I) Pvt. Ltd. is dedicated towards the promotion of Jatropha Curcas (Ratanjot) in India and the world. The Jatropha Plant is grown to produce Jatropha seed which is used to make Jatropha Biodiesel. As mentioned above that Jatropha seeds produce between 35% and 37% of their mass in oil and this is why the Jatropha tree is commonly referred to as the Biodiesel Jatropha Plant.
The Jatropha tree is cultivated to about 3 meters high and produces seed that contain an inedible vegetable oil that's used to produce biodiesel and other oil related products.
There are however insufficient raw materials (feedstock) in India at this stage for making biodiesel and other Biofuel to run these economies in accordance with these directives. The introduction of Jatropha thus brings about a great source and opportunity to the economy and to the ever increasing fuel market.
One can plant 2500 Jatropha trees per hectare at 2m apart for commercial purposes. With good planning, quality planting material, standard farming practices and good crop management Jatropha should yield approximately 10 tons of seed per hectare from the fifth year onwards. (That is 10,000kgs of seed per hectare). At an extraction rate of 37% one can get 3.7 tons of oil. (That’s is 3,700kgs of oil per hectare) The specific density of Jatropha Oil is 0.916kgs per liter. Therefore production per hectare is 0.916 x 3700 = 3,389 liters.
Jatropha may also be planted at 2.5 and 3m apart. In cooler climates it does better at larger distances apart. Well spaced trees will receive more sunlight and therefore do much better. The advantage is that you will be able to retain cattle to keep the grass down or plant other food crops in between.