Arizona Bio Fuels Research
Jatropha Page
Jatropha Curcas is the Cinderella of the plant world. Throw a seed in the poorest soil on the planet, and up comes a bush that will likely last 50 years. During a drought, jatropha bushes simply drop their leaves and keep pumping out seedpods. Livestock won't eat it, pests don't appear to like it. For longer than anybody can remember, Africans used it as living fences meant to keep back the encroaching Sahara and Kalahari deserts. It wasn't good for much else. Jatropha curcas is a oil-bearing seed crop grown extensively in India as a fuel source. In comparison to other oil sources, Jatropha is a very efficient source of oil, producing 200 to 380 gallons of oil per acre annually, while traditional sources such as soy (48 gal/acre), safflower (83 gal/acre), and rapeseed (127 gal/acre) produce considerably less. 
What Jatropha isn't is edible. Jatropha can be to biodiesel what corn is to ethanol. Since it is not an edible vegetable oil it is well suited to be the feedstock of choice for BioDiesel Fuel production. Our current BioDiesel production plants are utilizing soybean oil and canola oils. This is placing a large strain upon these commodities, and BioDiesel (as well as ethanol) production demands are being cited as the causes of escallating "food prices". In addition to efficiently producing oil, Jatropha has the ability to grow with little water and fertilizer on marginal lands. In fact, Jatropha is a nitrogen-fixer, which means that it replenishes nutrients in the soil necessary for plant growth. Once planted, Jatropha plants will live for 50 years, producing seeds several times each year. 
If we were producing BioDiesel from Jatropha oil stock - there would be no drain upon the foodstocks, and people would be able to feed themselves without worrying about the price of bread next week. This is why we should take our cue from the contry of India. We need to develop and grow Jatropha here in this country. And that is what we at Arizona Bio Fuels Research
are trying to do!!! We want to develop one of the first Jatropha Plantations and Jatropha Agricultural Industry's here
in these United States. Interested: eMail us at: AZBioFuels@phoenixcomputerlabs.com We are always looking for new partners that will share our enthusiasm and drive to develop this facinating and potentially profitable industry. Dave R. Mason
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