A REVIEW ON JATROPHA PLANT-A GREEN FUEL

Abstract

Bio fuel refers to many different types of alternative energy sources that could supplement or even replace fossil fuels. Although they only account for a few percent of the world's transport fuel to date, they are increasingly popular due to higher oil prices and an increasing concern with global warming and investments into them are therefore growing each year. Biofuels are normally divided into three categories: solid biomass, liquid fuel and biogases. Each group does not only effectively describe the form of the fuel, but also hints at the uses for which the fuel is intended. The growing concern with greenhouse gas emissions and global warming can hardly have escaped anyone's attention. Being in many respects the most talked about topic of the new century, it should be now common knowledge that humanity’s relies onfossil fuels as energy sources is gradually wrecking the ozone layer that protects the world from the less endearing powers of the sun. Yet the increasingly palpable threat of global warming and its consequences has at least resulted in a growing awareness of the problems inherent to oil-based economies. In this paper the focus is on a toxic plant known as “Jatropha”. It is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees. It is resistant to drought and pests, and producesseeds containing 27-40%oil,averaging 34.4%.[1]The remaining press cake of jatropha seeds after oil extraction could also be considered for energy production. However, despite their abundance and use as oil andreclamation[1]plants, none of the Jatropha species have been properly domesticated and, as a result, their productivity is variable, and the long-term impact of their large-scale use on soil quality and the environment is unknown.