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Earlier this century, jatropha was hailed as a "wonder" biofuel. An unassuming shrubby tree belonging to Central America, it was hugely promoted as a high-yielding, drought-tolerant biofuel feedstock that might grow on degraded lands across 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 caused plantation failures nearly everywhere. The consequences of the jatropha crash was polluted by accusations of land grabbing, mismanagement, and overblown carbon decrease claims.
Today, some researchers continue pursuing the evasive guarantee of high-yielding jatropha. A return, they state, depends on breaking the yield problem and resolving the damaging land-use issues intertwined with its original failure.
The sole remaining big jatropha plantation remains in Ghana. The plantation owner declares high-yield domesticated ranges have actually been attained and a new boom is at hand. But even if this comeback falters, the world's experience of jatropha holds crucial lessons for any promising up-and-coming biofuel.
At the start of the 21st century, Jatropha curcas, a simple shrub-like tree belonging to Central America, was planted throughout the world. The rush to jatropha was driven by its pledge as a sustainable source of biofuel that could be grown on deteriorated, unfertile lands so as not to displace food crops. But inflated claims of high yields fell flat.

Now, after years of research study and advancement, the sole remaining large plantation concentrated on growing jatropha remains in Ghana. And Singapore-based jOil, which owns that plantation, claims the jatropha resurgence is on.

"All those companies that failed, adopted a plug-and-play design of scouting for the wild ranges of jatropha. But to advertise it, you need to domesticate it. This belongs of the process that was missed [throughout the boom]," jOil CEO Vasanth Subramanian informed Mongabay in an interview.

Having learned from the mistakes of jatropha's past failures, he states the oily plant might yet play an essential role as a liquid biofuel feedstock, decreasing transportation carbon emissions at the international level. A new boom might bring extra benefits, with jatropha also a prospective source of fertilizers and even bioplastics.

But some scientists are skeptical, noting that jatropha has already gone through one hype-and-fizzle cycle. They caution that if the plant is to reach complete capacity, then it is important to find out from past mistakes. During the first boom, jatropha plantations were obstructed not just by poor yields, however by land grabbing, deforestation, and social issues in nations where it was planted, including Ghana, where jOil runs.

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

Miracle shrub, significant bust

Jatropha's early 21st-century appeal originated from its pledge as a "second-generation" biofuel, which are sourced from turfs, trees and other plants not stemmed from edible crops such as maize, soy or oil palm. Among its numerous purported virtues was an ability to flourish on abject or "minimal" lands