To put this point in context, The EU which is one of the biggest markets for biodiesel plans to use far more biofuels in the coming years, setting a target to replace 10% of transport oil with biofuel by 2020. This will require an estimated 33 million metric tons of oil up from 6 million metric tons of output in 2006. This is against the background of the EU already having to import large volumes of rapeseed to achieve current targets.

Jatropha presents a good potential source of biodiesel and a viable alternative to edible oils used for biodiesel production such as palm oil, soybean and rapeseed which compete with land for food crops. The Jatropha fruit produce seeds with a very high oil content and typically produce between 35% and 40% oil content by weight depending on the species used, the agronomy and climatic conditions. This compares with 15% oil content for soybean.

Jatropha curcas is a drought-resistant perennial plant that grows well even in the harshest of conditions and poorest of soils and produces a high oil-yielding inedible fruit. It thrives in areas 30 degrees north and south of the equator at altitudes below 800 metres and at average annual temperatures of 23°C.

The plants originated in Central America and were brought by early European traders to regions of Africa and India where it has been cultivated for over 200 years. It was often used as a live hedge plant and although its seeds are mildly toxic to humans and animals, the flowers and stem were used for a range of traditional medicinal purposes and the oil was used as an organic insecticide and in the manufacture of soap.

After harvesting the fruit is transported to the processing facility where it is air dried. Then the seeds are separated from the fruits using simple mechanical shelling equipment and pressed to extract the oil. The residual meal (seedcake) left after oil extraction is excellent organic fertilizer and can be burnt as biomass for power generation.

Filtered Jatropha oil can be used as-is in many diesel vehicles. It can be also used for domestic purposes as a clean burning kerosene substitute for heating and lamps. Kerosene is a commonly used domestic fuel in lower income agricultural regions in Indonesia. Following transesterification of the filtered oil it is easily converted to commercial biodiesel with no dangerous by-products.