Pakistan follows India by jumping on the jatropha biofuel train

Zarai Taraqiati Bank said today it is coordinating a deal between Pakistan and South Korea for the two countries to work together on jatropha plantations and extraction plants.

Pakistan has planted jatropha trees in Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab desert, following in the lead of neighboring India to use the hardy plant to produce biodiesel. Pakistan's leaders say they want to offset some of the $3 billion spent each year to import diesel.

India accounts for about two-thirds of the world’s jatropha plantations. The seeds can be crushed to yield up to 40 percent oil and produce about 60 to 70 U.S. gallons of oil per acre. Estimates are that jatropha oil yields are 10 times that of corn, but that production hasn’t been realized on a commercial scale (see Indian group plans farm of 5B jatropha trees).

The oil reportedly does not need further refining in order to be used in engines. Its residue also can be used as biomass feedstock to power electricity plants or used as fertilizer. Earlier this year, the plant's oil helped to power test flights by Air New Zealand, Japan Airlines and Continental Airlines.

Jatropha's appeal lies in that it can be grown in infertile soil and is drought-resistant, but a recent study out of the Netherlands-based University of Twente said it requires five times as much water per unit of energy compared to sugarcane and corn, and 10 times as much as the sugar beet, a known water-efficient biofuel crop (see Study finds hardy jatropha sucks up water). The study found that, while jatropha can resist drought, its oil production is greatest when it receives adequate rainfall.

China is investigating some of its own drought-resistant, native plants as potential sources of energy (see China to get first biomass plant using sea buckthorn, caragana).

Meanwhile, South Korean researchers are working on a project to use Indonesia's vast seaweed resources to make biodiesel (see Indonesia, S. Korea partner for seaweed biodiesel).