| Jastropha |
for Biodiesel Oil |
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Jastropha Carcus Biodiesel
Jastropha curcas is great for biodiesel. A lot of people don’t like
the idea of replacing fossil fuels with food crops; well the Jastropha
plant is one answer. The Jastropha plant is very hardy, it can grow almost
anywhere (even the desert), in almost any soil, and is resistant to droughts.
It has little to no pests and animals don’t like to eat it. It takes
root quickly and grows fast requiring little to no care producing seeds
year round which can also be made into biodiesel. It starts producing
seeds at about 2 years and continues onward for its life of around 40
years. Currently Jastropha is mainly found in India and is mostly used
in tanning products, yellow and blue dyes, fertilizer and soil improver,
soaps, waxes, pest control products, medicinal products, and more recently
biodiesel fuels.
Jatropha has also been a crop of choice in development programs in
Africa where local villages have grown Jatropha on small plots of land
and have hand-pressed the oil for use in generators, sewing machines
and small motors. Glycerin, a by product of Jatropha oil, can also be
used to produce soap.
"Jatropha has also been proven to have strong anti-erosion qualities
which will make it ideally suited in Ethiopia.
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