Jatropha grows in a belt between 30° north and 30° south of the equator. As you can see in Figure 3.4, the palm oil belt is much smaller — around 15° north and 15° south of the equator. Growing conditions for Jatropha are ideal in countries like Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, and even South China. Practically the whole African continent and a large parts of South America have excellent climatic growing conditions.

Nothing can beat oil palm in terms of yield per hectare because of the years and years of research that have been done. However, in countries where you cannot grow oil palm, such as China and Vietnam, Jatropha can be the highest yielder of vegetable oils. One hectare of oil palm trees yields about 4 tonnes of crude palm oil, or about 10 times the productivity of soy. Jatropha, if properly cultivated, yields between 2.5 and 3 tonnes of oil/hectare. We expect China, India, and Indonesia, where land is in ample supply, to be the biggest Jatropha oil producers in the long­term in Asia, with the number of hectares potentially reaching into the millions. In Africa, many countries like Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, Mali, and Mozambique can become important biofuel producers.

The main disadvantage of Jatropha is the fact that it only grows in tropical cli­mates, not like sugarbeets, algae, or Camelina — all feedstocks that can be grown all over the world.

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