By Nick Chambers •
October 2, 2008
Jatropha is a nondescript and rather ugly desert shrub, but its appearance belies a huge potential as a major source of oil for biodiesel production on land that doesn’t compete with food crops — and the whole world is taking notice.
Jatropha has the potential to produce 4 times the amount of biodiesel as soybeans and 1.5 times the amount of even a dedicated oil crop such as canola. This alone has been enough to make people sit up and take notice, but jatropha’s true beauty lies in the fact that it can be grown on literal wasteland — land that has been left for dead with little rainfall, poor soils, and a harsh climate.
By Nick Chambers •
September 29, 2008
As the global market for biofuels heats up, much of the demand for biodiesel is being satisfied by clearing virgin rainforests to create oil palm plantations. But, as it turns out, these plantations are an awful substitute for rainforests.
A group of British, German and Danish researchers has found that the biodiversity of oil palm plantations is far lower than that of tropical rainforests and that no amount of plantation management changes could ever possibly make them come close to replicating rainforest diversity.
By Gavin Hudson •
August 6, 2008
Malaysia and Indonesia decided this week to convert surpluses of edible palm oil into biodiesel fuel.
Currently, the two southeast Asian countries grow about 85% of the world’s palm oil and control 88% of all palm oil exports. But amid stalled plans for more production plants and a slowing demand for palm oil, the countries are beginning to worry.
The proposal to turn so much food to fuel comes as an attempt to increase demand for palm biodiesel and drive up prices. In 2007, palm oil biodiesel prices made a dizzying 80% jump to over $944 per tonne. However, when prices hit today’s price of $871 per tonne lags just below prices seven months ago.
