Use of Jatropha Biodiesel as a Future Sustainable Fuel

This article briefly discusses the present status and future scope for use of jatropha biodiesel as an alternative to diesel (fossil derived) in India. The big gap between the production and the use of petroleum fuels is presently met by imports from other countries. Therefore, it is obligatory on the part of India to go in for some alternative, renewable, and eco-friendly fuels that can be cultivated in the otherwise barren land available in the country. In this respect, it may be mentioned that the government of India has identified jatropha as a possible and promising alternative to diesel. However, the bio-fuel policy adopted by the government through its bio-fuel mission launched in 2003 and 2007 in two phases did not evoke much success because of various challenges faced by the commercial production of jatropha, in spite of its many advantages. Therefore, in this era of energy crisis and fast degradation of the environment, the government must devise an appropriate plan of action to overcome these challenges and to implement the bio-fuel policy to promote the use of jatropha biodiesel as a partial substitute to mineral diesel fuel.