The Importance of Jatropha Green Oil
Jatropha Green Oil Is A Renewable Energy Source
Derived From Plants That Grows In Land That Can’t Support Food Crops
Some facts about energy supplies in the world today, that may be alleviated by the adoption of a Jatropha Green Oil development programme:-
• Fossil fuels (coal, gas, petrol/oil) create greenhouse gases when burnt and this is causing irreparable damage to our planet and its environment.
• The supply of fossil fuels could one day run out: we should be urgently looking for replacement fuels from renewable power sources.
• We are constantly held to ransom by politically unstable governments who just happen to have huge reserves of fossil fuels under their ground.
• Giving money to the governments of poor countries, then walking away, is an irresponsible and ineffective way to eradicate poverty.
• World demand for energy (from whatever source) is forecast to increase by 65% between now and 2030.
But on a more positive note …
The technology to run transport and power generation on Jatropha green oil already exists. Green oil (biofuel) from the Jatropha Curcas plant is a direct replacement for crude oil products (specifically heavy fuel oils) and has a very similar calorific content, better lubricating properties and produces vastly reduced emissions.
“Green Oil” and “Jatropha Green Oil”
Clarifying the difference between “green oil” and “Jatropha green oil”.
“Green oil” is a term used generally to refer to oil that has been produced in an environmentaly non-damaging fashion. It may have been produced from one of any number of different kinds of vegetables, and is termed ‘green in the envirnmental sense.
“Jatropha green oil” is also an ‘environmentally ‘green’ oil but it’s colour is also green. So “Jatropha green oil” is both physically green and ‘environmentlayy green’.
Green Oil as a Fuel
Green oil is a biofuel which can produce energy without releasing a net increase of carbon into the atmosphere, because the plants used to produce the fuel have previously removed CO2 from the atmosphere.
In contrast, fossil fuels return carbon back into the atmosphere, having stored it underground for millions of years. Biofuels are more nearly carbon neutral and therefore less likely to increase atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases.
Green Oil – vegetable oil harvested from plants – could play a crucial role in solving many of the economic, ecological and political problems facing mankind at the moment.
• If all cars, lorries and trains ran on green oil, most of the problems listed on the previous page could be eradicated. If a sufficient supply of green oil were available, this could be done – the technology already exists.
Old negatives about the performance of green oil-powered vehicles have been well and truly swept away. The Lola entry into the 2007 Le Mans 24-hour race was powered by a Jatropha green oil blend. In the newspapers last month was
a new British sports car, the Trident Iceni. Running on pure biodiesel it is capable of 200 mph and can go 2,000 miles on a tankful of fuel at 100 mpg. Clearly, the technology already exists to build powerful motor vehicles which perform well on undiluted biofuel.
Green Oil from a Commercial Crop
The potential demand for green oil is beyond imagination. To replace coal, gas, oil/petrol and nuclear as power sources would demand a supply volume that could take generations to achieve. But that shouldn’t stop us making a start: indeed, the process is already under way.
There are a good few sources of green oil. It can be found in animals, such as fish and chicken, and in plants such as Palm Oil and Jatropha Curcas Linn. The moral dilemma for world governments, however, is that some plant sources will only grow in fertile soil, meaning that land must be taken out of food production in order to grow green oil-producing plants.
On a planet which has huge (though admittedly localised) food shortages, that really is a dilemma. Food or money?
1. But Jatropha Curcas Linn produces lower profits per acre than foodstuffs, so farmers are not tempted to switch.
2. It grows best on soil which is not good enough to grow foodstuffs.
