Biodiesel from Jatropha: Scenario of Nepal. Er. Manish Karn Biodiesel is the first biofuel that became known to wider audience in our country. It is manufactured from oil or fats with the process of transesterification and its chemical structure is very similar to mineral diesel. Oils are mixed with sodium hydroxide and methanol or ethanol creating two products, biodiesel and glycerol. One part of glycerol comes on every ten parts of ethanol. Biodiesel can be used in every diesel engine when mixed with mineral diesel. Presently lot news is heard regarding Biodiesel, and specially biodiesel from Jatropha in Nepal. Only few weeks ago Jatropha plant was inaugurated in Bharatpur. Jatropha became every household name in Nepal now. Everybody is positive regarding production of biodiesel from Jatropha, as it will reduce to cut import of Petroleum products and reduce carbon emission and pollute less. Jatropha is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees from the family Euphorbiaceae. The name is derived from (Greek iatros = physician and trophe = nutrition), hence the common name physic nut. Jatropha is native to Central America [1] and has become naturalized in many tropical and subtropical areas. As with many members of the family Euphorbiaceae, Jatropha contains compounds that are highly toxic. The hardy Jatropha is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil (average: 34.4%). Advantages of Jatropha Curcas The plant is preferred compared to others due to advantages including: Low cost seeds; High oil content; Increased safety due to higher flash point; Small gestation period; Growth on good and degraded soil; Growth in low and high rainfall areas; Does not require special expertise to farm; Seeds can be harvested in non-rainy season; Plant size makes collection of seeds more convenient; and Multi-plant use including production of biodiesel, soap, mosquito repellent, and organic fertilizer. Jatropha Curcas / Castor grows almost anywhere even on gravelly, sandy and saline soils. It can thrive on the poorest stony soil. It can grow even in the crevices of rocks. The leaves shed during the winter months form mulch around the base of the plant. The organic matter from shed leaves enhance earth-worm activity in the soil around the root-zone of the plants, which improves the fertility of the soil. Climatically, Jatropha Curcas / Castor are found in the tropics and subtropics and like heat, although it does well even in lower temperatures and can withstand a light frost. Its water requirement is extremely low and it can stand long periods of drought by shedding most of its leaves to reduce transpiration loss. Jatropha Curcas is also suitable for preventing soil erosion and shifting of sand dunes. Jatropha productive lifespan is over 50 years. Though it is said that Jatropha Curcas water requirement is low, many recent research are quite antagonistic. A comprehensive new analysis of water use in biofuel crop production finds that jatropha, an oil-rich plant championed for its ability to grow in arid regions where food crops cannot, is the biggest water hog of them all. Researchers from the University of Twente, in the Netherlands, report in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that jatropha

requires five times as much water per unit of energy as sugarcane and corn, and nearly ten times as much as sugar beet--the most water-efficient biofuel crop, according to the same study. "The claim that jatropha doesn't compete for water and land with food crops is complete nonsense," says study coauthor Arjen Hoekstra. The researcher says it's true that the plant can grow with little water and can survive through periods of drought, but to flourish, it needs good growing conditions just like any other plant. "If there isn't sufficient water, you get a low amount of oil production," Hoekstra says. Although biodiesel pollutes less than regular diesel when it comes out of a tail pipe, the farming involved to produce crop-based Biofuels actually increases pollution worldwide. Biodiesel plantation means, an extra manpower, an extra land, for production of Jatropha. In our country where there is chronic famine, poverty and instead of farming food, we are wasting manpower, food growing land (as no guarantee that fertile farming land will not be used) to produce biodiesel and to convert food into fuel. And in this globalized world, harvesting Jatropha for fuel instead of harvesting food results in land being cleared somewhere else in the world to grow the missing food. Basically, Biofuels production is really a direct transformation of food into the energy, which means that some food prices could skyrocket. Jean Ziegler a U.N. special reporter from Right to food program said, in 2007, how Biofuels production will even further increase hunger in world by claiming that biofuel production has already increased price of some food to record levels. Ziegler doesnt dispute the right of the countries to produce Biofuels but nearly suggests that the effect of transforming hundreds and hundreds of thousands of tones of maize, of wheat, of beans, of palm oil, into agricultural fuel is absolutely catastrophic for the hungry people Also he added that "wheat price doubled in one year and the price of corn quadrupled, leaving poor countries, especially in Africa, unable to pay for the imported food needed to feed their people". At the end he concluded that the production of Biofuels is actually the crime against humanity. In case of Nepal, we have practically no data about Jatropha. There are few research work done recently. Every country sooner or later will adopt production of Biodiesel from Jatropha, palm Oil, Rapeseed etc, which will surely affect the price of crude oil, and theres no guarantee that after so hard, laborious work, we have jatropha biodiesel more costly than diesel imported from foreign countries. Lot of research are to be done in our country to study its impact of socioeconomic condition of farmer and overall to our country.