Sunday Supplement: Jatropha in Space
Could microgravity research unlock the potential of a biofuel plant?
Hello, Gardeners of the Galaxy, and welcome to the GotG Sunday Supplement, premium content for my top Rocket Boosters!
I took this image of a Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) plant growing in the Rainforest Biome at the Eden Project in September 2010.
In the early years of the 21st century, Jatropha was hailed as a wonder biofuel that could cure all our energy ills. As we struggled to outgrow our reliance on fossil fuels, critics pointed out that switching to first-generation biofuels - produced from edible crops such as sugarcane, corn and canola - risked increasing food scarcity.
Our attention shifted to energy crops that could grow in wastelands, and Jatropha seemed to fit the bill. The shrubby tree is native to Central America, happily grows on arid, barren lands, and has spread across the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. And the oil in its mildly-toxic berries can be transformed into home-grown fuel.
But although there was a rush to get huge plantations growing, they were based on hype, not science. Jatropha grown in difficult conditions can't offer significant yields of oil. Jatropha grown on higher quality land with more water competes with food crops.
The problem is that Jatropha isn't domesticated. We haven't learned how to coax out its best behaviour and tame its more obnoxious traits. Taming a plant takes time, and when I stood in front of this specimen the bubble of hope that it would become an abundant energy source had burst. But a much bigger adventure was on the horizon for Jatropha - in space.
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