Making diesel fuels environmentally friendly

From peanut oil to methane gas. The fuels powering the diesel engine have undergone considerable development during its 119 year long history.
So much so that today, even the fuel we traditionally, if somewhat simplistically, refer to as ‘diesel’ is beginning to make way for alternatives with a smaller environmental footprint, such as biogas and DME. Time to examine what it is all about.
One might say that diesel is somewhat misunderstood and has received more than its fair share of criticism from an environmental perspective. Originally the term had nothing to do with any particular type of fuel but instead only described a particular type of engine.
For instance, Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, ran his first engines on peanut oil.
For many people, however, the word has become synonymous with fossil diesel oil, which is a rather narrow description since the diesel engine can be run on many different fuels, some of which are renewable.
The common factor is that they are ignited via compression instead of via the spark provided by a spark plug.The reason why diesel oil has become synonymous with the diesel engine is that, over the years, that has been the most common fuel used in the diesel engine.
However, as society’s demands increase and technology makes significant advances, so too are more and more alternative fuels being developed for use in the diesel engine.
“It’s important for us to work with a wide range of alternative fuels and to come up with solutions that reduce our impact on the climate. It is already possible to build efficient diesel engines that run on renewable fuels.
"This can be shown, not least, in our new Volvo FM MethaneDiesel and the bioDME-powered trucks on which we are now conducting field tests. This fuel has the potential for cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 95 percent,” says Lars Mårtensson, Environmental Director at Volvo Trucks.

One engine – several fuels

Anders Röj (pictured alongside) is a fuel expert at Volvo Technology.
He explains that diesel fuel can actually be made from virtually any organic material just as long as it has flammable properties that make it suitable for the diesel process.
“However, some fuels require major or minor modifications of the engine and its peripheral equipment.
And, unfortunately, the engine does not always function equally well on all fuels. For instance, biodiesel exhibits poorer stability and cold-weather properties than hydrocarbon-based diesel fuels.
When mixed in small quantities with diesel oil, however, biodiesel functions well if its quality is acceptable in other respects.
Since there is such a wide range of alternative fuels, it's good idea to review what is available.
Following is a survey of both existing and future fuels for the diesel engine.

Fossil diesel oil

What we traditionally refer to as diesel oil is a petroleum product consisting of hydrocarbons. To produce diesel fuel, crude oil is first distilled and then refined. In this process the petroleum is filtered and purified to meet the legislative requirements and diesel standard of the particular country in which the fuel is to be sold.
The EU, for instance, has both a directive and CEN standard EN 590 – an abbreviation that stands for European Committee for Standardization – to regulate quality requirements for diesel fuel.
The US on the other hand generally adopts the ASTM International standard. Furthermore, many countries also have their own national standards.
According to Anders Röj, fossil diesel fuel offers the best energy efficiency from initial oil extraction to combustion in the engine, known as the “well-to-wheel” perspective.
“Nature has done an excellent preliminary job with its crude oil deep down in the bowels of the earth over millions of years. And in the almost 100 years that oil refineries have been around, the technology has also undergone significant development,” he explains.

Biodiesel

FAME, Fatty Acid Methyl Esters, is the collective name for what we refer to as biodiesel. FAME can be produced from a number of different vegetable or animal oils, such as rapeseed oil (RME), soya oil (SME) and palm oil (PME).
It is even possible to run a diesel engine on fuel obtained from used cooking oil or tallow, depending on where in the world the biodiesel is produced.
The advantage of FAME fuels is that they give 50-60 percent lower CO2 emissions from “well to wheel” compared with conventional diesel, and are free from sulphur and aromatics. The fuels’ downsides are that they contribute to increased emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Within the EU, it is no longer permitted for diesel fuel to contain more than seven percent FAME since, with a higher proportion, NOx emissions will be too high.
“Had FAME not been a bio-component we would probably be very negative to such fuels due to the NOx emissions and quality problems. Now, however, there is political pressure to use renewable fuels, and biodiesel is one of the few biofuels currently available on a commercial scale,” says Anders Röj.

Synthetic diesel

Diesel oil can also be produced synthetically through gasification of fuels such as black coal and natural gas, creating a fuel that contains a smaller proportion of aromatic hydrocarbons.
There is at present no significant production of synthetic diesel, however, research is currently being conducted into energy-efficient gasification of biomass. If this project is successful synthetic diesel may become a particularly viable fuel in the future.
“Emissions of NOx and particulates from synthetic diesel are lower than from fossil diesel oil. However, the energy content per litre of fuel is somewhat lower,” Anders Röj goes on to say.

DME (Dimethyl ether)

One of the synthetic diesel fuels being examined is an ether known as DME, a carbon/hydrogen/oxygen molecular bond.
At present DME is produced from natural gas, but Swedish company Chemrec is running a pilot plant for the production of BioDME in Piteå, where the raw material being used is black liquor, a high-energy by-product of paper pulp manufacture.
It gives 95 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions than diesel fuel and zero emissions of soot. BioDME can also be produced from other biomass sources.
“As a diesel fuel, BioDME gives the highest energy output per unit of raw material. It offers five times the driving range per unit of cultivated arable land than biodiesel, for instance,” reveals Anders Röj.
Consequently, BioDME is one of the fuels that Volvo Trucks is focusing on for the future. The company is currently engaged in field tests in Sweden with trucks running on DME.

Methane gas

Natural gas or biogas can be used as vehicle fuel in both compressed and liquid form. It does not ignite like diesel fuel but if fossil or biodiesel is used to assist in the combustion process, it works well.
In May 2011 Volvo Trucks launched its new Volvo FM MethaneDiesel, a gas-powered truck designed for regional distribution. It is powered by up to 75 percent liquefied methane gas with the remainder consisting of diesel oil, with the diesel serving as the above-mentioned “spark plug”.
With biogas in the fuel tank, CO2 emissions drop by up to 70 percent compared with a conventional diesel engine. With fossil-based gas, emissions are cut by 10 percent.
The advantages of renewable fuels for diesel engines:
• Obtained from renewable energy sources (biomass).
• Cause lower (in some cases much lower) emissions of greenhouse gases compared with fossil diesel fuel.
• Usually produce lower particle emissions; some fuels burn with virtually no soot formation (e.g. DME).
• Other regulated emissions may also be lower than for fossil diesel fuel.

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Very green oil from algae

Very green oil from algae



Solazyme is an American company that manufactures algae-based oil that can be used for biofuel or as a substitute for other petroleum-based products such as plastics. Unlike corn and other crops used for biofuel, algae harvesting has no negative impact on world food supplies.

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Mulch Moke - Carbon Neutral Car Biofuel

Mulch Moke - Carbon Neutral Car Biofuel



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This is the diriection of a clear alternative to power out. We need this really badly if we are to survive the coming "suit job Armageddon". We have to look at heat capture and general energy recovery and capture. Gasoline is good fuel, but specifically designed to cast off or throw away as a waste product when used in an internal combustion engine. Good job anyway The dedicated drive gases engine would be the ones that are banished from use.
hypnofan35 3 weeks ago

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Grass Biofuel Pellets

Grass Biofuel Pellets

News Brief

Switchgrass for bioheat in Canada (Samson 2008)

See the CBC video clip of REAP-Canada's innovative research on switchgrass.

Unprecedented opportunities for biofuel development are occurring as a result of a number of simultaneous factors including the rising cost of oil, natural gas and electricity; the need for energy resource security; and climate change. Agriculture has a surplus production capacity to be more than a food producer. Because of their efficient ability to collect solar energy, high yielding whole plant perennial bioenergy crops represent a promising opportunity to develop sustainable biofuels and support rural development. Eighteen years ago, REAP chose the path of developing native warm season grasses on marginal farmlands as the best approach to creating sustainable energy sources from farmland that will efficiently reduce greenhouse gases. More than ever, we believe it is the the best long term option in temperate regions to ecologically produce appreciable quantities of energy sustainably from farmland. It is evident global expansion of the use of important food crops like corn and oilseeds as fuel will face a challenging future because of rising concerns with food inflation, food security, and world hunger.

Visit REAP-Canada's on-line library with more than 70 publications on biomass energy.

How best can we produce renewable energy from farmland?

The need to find alternatives to replace increasingly expensive fossil fuels and reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions has peaked interest in biofuels around the world. The ability of agricultural plants to capture and store solar energy through photosynthesis holds great promise as a renewable energy solution for mankind. However, at the same time agriculture must maintain its primary energy production role: creating nutritious food for the human body. Sustainable biofuels must be developed that also ensure a continuous supply of fairly-priced food for the people of the world.

The first thing that can be done to make biofuels more sustainable is to develop energy crops that more efficiently capture solar energy to increase the overall energy produced per hectare. The best options are energy crops that can do this with less fossil energy use and can be productive on marginal farmland. Currently, cereal grains and oilseeds are being used to produce biofuels but these are not the most efficient option available. Resource-efficient native perennial grasses like switchgrass are much better suited to this purpose. They have a number of desirable traits including that they: are adapted to marginal lands, require minimal fertility and management, are low cost to produce, have moderate to high yields, and produce 40 % more net energy gain per acre than corn. The use of marginal farmland for bioenergy production also creates less conflict with the global food supply. The second thing that needs to be done is to efficiently convert the captured solar energy (known as biomass) into a useful energy form. Scientists now understand that liquid fuels are the losers in the energy conversion game. It's much more energy efficient to produce biogas and fuel pellets from biomass to replace fossil fuels. In a race to create energy security and limit greenhouse gas emissions, whole plant biomass crops converted into pellets or biogas beat turning seed crops into liquid biofuels hands down.

Since 1991, REAP-Canada has pioneered the research and development of biofuel pellets made from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) for use in space heating applications (Bioheat). Switchgrass, when pelletized, has considerable potential to displace oil, natural gas, and electricity used for heating fuel. This development can significantly reduce greenhouse gases and heating costs and sustainably assist the development of rural communities.

Converting switchgrass into a viable energy option suitable for widespread application requires an energetically efficient, economical, and convenient energy transformation pathway to meet consumer energy needs. The recent development of advanced pellet stoves, boilers, and furnaces provides a practical pathway for grass biofuel pellets to be converted into heating energy. These appliances are capable of burning moderately high-ash densified agricultural fuels at 80-90% efficiency. In these systems, grass pellets or briquettes are used much like wood pellets and can provide fuel conversion efficiencies and particulate emissions in the same range as modern oil furnaces. Each GJ of grass pellet energy directly substitutes for one GJ of oil, and can be utilized on a large scale without significant air pollution. The pelletized grass biofuel systems builds on, and is likely to overtake, the existing wood pellet heating industry which is rapidly developing without any significant level of government intervention. Pelletized grass biofuel is poised to become a major fuel source because it is capable of meeting some heating requirements at less cost than all available alternatives. The cost-effectiveness of pelletized grass as a fuel results from:

• efficient use of low cost marginal farmland for solar energy collection;
• minimal fossil fuel input in field production and energy conversion;
• replacement of expensive high-grade energy forms in space and water heating;
• minimal biomass quality upgrading which limits energy loss from the feedstock; and
• efficient combustion in advanced, affordable, and user-friendly devices.

After 18 years of research and development working with farmers, industry and scientists to grow, densify and burn grass pellets, the technical limitations to develop this industry are largely a thing of the past. The industry is now ready to emerge and fine-tuning of the production systems is being undertaken. A number of resources are now available to guide you through the various steps of producing and/or using grass biofuel pellets.

Mowing switchgrass in late fall

Warm-Season Grass Production

REAP-Canada conducts agronomic research and breeding on switchgrass cultivars and other grasses to develop optimum strains suitable for grass pellet production. Adaptability trials are used to assess which varieties are best suited to the various growing conditions found in each region. Farmers need to source the best adapted plant materials for their region from reputable seed suppliers. Fortunately, a growing choice of cultivars and seed suppliers is developing to support the grass pellet industry. A number of production guides are available to grow warm season grasses like switchgrass, including the REAP-Canada production guide.

Promising switchgrass cultivars in southwestern Quebec

Biomass Densification

To densify grasses, individual or groups of farmers will need to establish their own pelleting or briquetting factories. In some localities existing alfalfa or wood pellet plants can be utilized. Pellet plants typically need to be in the size range of 50,000 tonnes or more in order to be efficient and will cost approximately $5 million dollars. The briquetting of grasses is a lower cost option, with basic production systems which can produce approximately 10,000 tonnes per year costing about $600,000. Briquettes, because of their larger size, are mainly used for larger commercial or industrial boilers. The pelleting of grasses is not difficult provided the following conditions are met: the material needs to be fine ground to pass through screens of at least 5/64" or smaller; it needs to be treated with high temperature steam of at least 90 degrees Celsius; and an appropriate sized pellet die needs to be utilized typically with a thickness of 2 1/4" to produce 1/4" pellets.

Grass Pellets Briquette Silo Pellet Stove

For more information on grass pelleting technology and suppliers see here.

Biomass Combustion

There are a growing number of pellet stove and boiler suppliers developing advanced combustion appliances that can burn grass pellets. The most successful experience to date has been burning these fuels in commercial boilers used in the greenhouse industry. Combustion studies by Natural Resources Canada have confirmed that switchgrass pellets can burn cleanly in advanced combustion appliances and are the cleanest burning agro-fuel source with emissions similar to wood pellets. Advanced combustion technology to cleanly and efficiently burn grasses is now being incorporated into stove and boiler technologies.

For a list of combustion appliances conducive to use with grass pellets see here.

The main grass feedstock production technique being used to lower pellet particulate levels during combustion is to employ a fall mowing and spring harvest technique. This approach effectively allows problematic compounds like potassium and chlorine to be leached from grasses so the pelleted fuel can have a chemical composition similar to wood pellets. Clean combustion can't be realized unless the fuel source is low in potassium and chlorine. More information on the fall mow/spring harvest technique to produce clean burning grass pellet fuels can be found in our on-line library

Overwintered switchgrass material ready for baling in the spring.

Spring bales of fall-mown switchgrass material

Greenhouse Gas emissions

Contrary to the prevailing wisdom that reducing GHG emissions will raise societal energy costs, pelletized or briquetted biofuels can provide consumers with lower and more stable heating costs while dramatically cutting GHG emissions. Given that agricultural commodity prices are declining in real dollars, pellet and briquette fuels are likely to become cheaper over time. By contrast, woodbased pellets have been rising in cost due to growing scarcity as the demand for wood pellets made from forest residues increases. If we are to avoid whole trees being cut down to make wood pellets, new solutions like developing fast growing prairie grasses need to be realized. The development of a grass pellet biofuel industry has great potential to revitalize rural economies by effectively using marginal farmlands and cutting on-farm fuel costs in heating intensive sectors like greenhouses.

During combustion of plant-based fuels, the carbon dioxide emitted is considered to be sequestered during the growth cycle of the plant. Carbon emissions are largely neutral except for energy associated with their production and conversion into fuel pellets. The savings in GHG emissions is considerable because pellets (at 8.2 kg CO2e/GJ) have much lower emissions than coal (93.1 kg CO2e/GJ), liquid natural gas (87.9 kg CO2e/GJ), and natural gas (57.6 kg CO2e/GJ), offering net offsets of 86-91%.

Land area requirements and biomass resource availability

The 440 million ha (1.1 billion acres) of farmland in North America could be used to create a renewable source of energy if currently viable biofuel production systems were expanded. In most agricultural regions, warm season grasses can be grown for $3-5 USD/GJ. In Quebec and Ontario, farmers working with REAP-Canada have been getting about 8-10 ODT/ha harvested from a typical field of switchgrass, which is equivalent to approximately 24-30 barrels of oil/hectare. As switchgrass is a resource efficient plant that largely runs on solar energy, it produces 20 times more energy than is required to grow it and deliver it to a bioconversion plant. Most efforts have been made to produce power (though co-firing with coal) and cellulosic ethanol from grasses, but these bioconversion technologies appear not to be economically competitive. Converting this feedstock into a viable energy option suitable for widespread application requires an energy efficient, economical, and convenient energy transformation pathway to meet consumer energy needs.

Of the farmland in North America (932 and 168 million acres in the US and Canada respectively), we estimate that 150 million acres could be dedicated to energy farming without appreciably affecting North America's food supply. Assuming biomass energy crop yields are 50% higher than the current hay yields, harvested perennial grass yields of 5.9 and 8.1 tonnes/ha in Canada and the US respectively can be expected. A total production capacity of 424 and 55 million tonnes could be achieved in the two respective countries by growing grasses on 130 million acres in the US and 23.4 million acres in Canada. Assuming grass fuel pellets contain 18.5 GJ of energy/tonne, 8.9 billion GJ (an energy equivalent of 1.5 billion barrels of oil) could be produced each year from energy crop production on 14% of North American farmland. With U.S. crude oil imports of approximately 3.4 billion barrels per year, the U.S. could displace the equivalent of 39% of its oil imports by growing biofuels on 14% of its farmland.

The most promising regions to develop a grass pellet fuel industry are those where hay production costs are low and heating costs are high due to long winters and high fuel costs. Based on hay prices, land costs, relative winter heat costs, and warm season grass performance data in North America, some of the best opportunities exist in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.

To learn more about grass biofuels, view the following powerpoint presentation on: Switchgrass for bioheat in Canada

Documents published regarding REAP's bioenergy projects are located in the on-line library.

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Aviation firm in biofuel first

Aviation firm in biofuel first



Thomson Airways is making aviation history by becoming the first UK airline to fly on sustainable biofuel.

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Dubai backs first biofuel project

Dubai backs first biofuel project



Neutral Group aims to produce 100 million litres of biofuel made from used vegetable oil, an initiative that has received a thumbs up from the Dubai government.

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An Algae Bioreactor from Recycled Water Bottles

All Comments (145)
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@frederickgraff they dry it reducing its liquid contains then they use mechanical pumps to apply pressure to it squezzing oils from it because water will dry but the oil will lock into the algae because oils low release rate
cmb271 1 week ago

Does anybody know how to filter that algae?

frederickgraff 2 weeks ago

@77OM616 There are ten times more processes in refining crude oil compared with digging up coal and burning it. Coal fired power has a conversion efficiency of about 50%, compared to 25% in a combustion engine. I'm not arguing that coal isn't dirty but it's way more efficient than petroleum or diesel. And when you start adding renewables to the mix it gets cleaner again. Even based on the dirtiest coal fired plant on the planet i'ts still less energy than wasting it in a combustion engine.
DingoBabyEat 1 month ago

@DingoBabyEat For what it's worth, coal must also be mined and transported, and it burns dirtier than petrolium products. As a solid, it cannot be piped. (Ethanol and corn also can not be moved through a pipeline) Furthermore, the internal combustion engine is not the most inefficient kind of engine... if it was we would still be using (coal fired) steam power.

Part of the reason that Diesel made his engine was because nothing was on the market that was affordable to operate (efficient)
77OM616 1 month ago

its great that people are trying and sure we'll see new tech & efficiencies, but short of fission there simply are no viable alternatives to fossil-fuels, at least not for 6.7billion people. 'demand destruction' is what we're in for.
walter0bz 1 month ago

" a better solution would be to use the carbon that's already in the atmosphere'

its Energy , not Carbon, that we need.

having said that agree that piping burnt fossil c02 into algae tanks is a great idea for 'damage limitation'
walter0bz 1 month ago

But the algae could still be used to sequester carbon from any number of industrial processes. It's not a solution in and of itself but it has potential to clean up some dirty industries in the short term.  Petroleum is not great! - the energy that goes into extracting, trucking, shipping, refining, storing, trucking, pumping and then burning in a combustion engine (which is the most inefficient kind of motor). Coal fired electricity is way more efficient than that
DingoBabyEat 1 month ago

growing algae is pretty simple, but the major question is energy input and ouput for extracting the algae. for most industrial production, the major fuel source is still from fossil fuels. algae fuel may not be a viable source of energy if the energy input is more than the output. petroleum is great simply because all the energy input is free from years of under the earth pressure. however
eastern2western 2 months ago

to grow algae is pretty simple job but the question is how to convert it into biodiesel in an economic or cheaper way ?

HomoSapien2012 2 months ago

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Potential Anti-Cancer Drug Used as Biofuel

Potential Anti-Cancer Drug Used as Biofuel

Jatropha curcas is the name of a castor oil plant that would have little meaning to us because it is not a food, or a commonly used medicinal plant. However, it is a plant that could play a significant role in global health if it was explored enough to challenge the plantations of Jatropha curcas being cultivated for the sole purpose of biofuels.
Jatropha curcas is a plant native to Africa, Asia, and South America, and has become naturalized in South Egypt. It is a low growing tree that produces seeds within a year, can keep on producing seeds for up to 5 years, the plant is useful for up to 50 years, the seeds produce 37% oil, the kernels 60% oil, and the seeds can yield 0.75 to 2 tons of biodiesel per hectare. If all eyes are on its production level at  time when looking to turn a fast profit for a growing market despite being unsustainable then Jatropha curcas is the plant to process.
Afforestation
Jatropha curcas is one of those plants that can grow anywhere quite literally, no matter how poor the quality of the soil. In the winter months, the leaves shed to form a mulch around the plant which increases the activity of earth worms, the creatures that turn the soil improving soil fertility. In fact, Jatropha curcas is known for its ability to stop soil erosion, and to prevent the shifting of sane dunes.
Other Uses
The high saponification content of the oil has found its way into the production of soaps, and as a smokeless illuminate. Research by the Food and Agricultural Organization has shown that the alkaloid, jatrophine to contain anti-cancerous properties, and to be extremely beneficial for skin diseases, rheumatism, and sores when applied to the skin of livestock. The twigs are good for cleaning the teeth, and the juice from the leaf is good when applied externally to piles. The roots have been used an antidote for snake bites, and the bark as a dye. The FAO have also found that:

• Jatropha oil cake is rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and can be used as organic manure.

• The seeds are considered anthelimintic in Brazil, and the leaves are used for fumigating houses against bed-bugs.

• The ether extract shows antibiotic activity against Styphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.

In Indonesia, the idea “Treat the jatropha plant as well as possible to make the harvest as large as possible!” was promoted as the oil was used to lubricate machinery for the Japanese WWII effort, and as well as for fuel.
Jatropha Oil as Biofuel
Sun Biofuels of Mozambique are boasting their first batch of 30 tonnes of unrefined Jatropha Oil from the province of Manica. Using 3,000 hectares, and only employing a 1,000 workers, a tonne on the international market goes for US$900 and US$950 although the company has yet to make revenue. Once exported, the real profit will be made, as Jatropha Oil  is turned into a biosynthetic kerosene. Sun Biofuels is a subsidiary of the U.K.-based Sun Biofuels. This batch will be tested on Lufthansa planes, as burning of Jatropha oil requires no modification to engines.
It takes 100 kilos of Jatropha seeds to produce 35 liters of oil. In India, the average agriculturalist earns U.S.$40 per month when biodiesel is 16-20p per litre. Four hectares can be managed by 1 employee, while 1 hectare of Jatropha yields annually 25,000 Rupees/£300.
The residue from oil production could be used as fertilizer, feedstock and for fuel, skin friendly soap, but the soil erosion factor is compromised by the continual harvesting of the trees. Irrelevant to corporations Daniels Midland Company, Bayer CropScience and Daimler AG have been working jointly on Jatropha.
However, as easy as Jatropha is to grow, with changing climatic conditions, nothing can be guaranteed as Jatropha needs a minimum of 600 mm of rain annually to thrive, but can survive 3 years in a drought.
In fact, if Jatropha can be cultivated amongst cash crops, there is  a greater argument for the mass plantation of Jatropha in famine hit regions, for the domestic consumption of the oil as cooking fuel, feedstock, veterinary medicine, and as biofuel for local consumption. Famine struck communities can also benefit from trade by producing organic skin friendly soap, antibacterial (especially as Jatropha is effective against Escherichia coli infection which is so prevalent in the west) and anti-cancerous medicines.
Sources:
Mozambique: First Exports Of Bio-Fuels To European Markets http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=603508
http://trademarksa.org/news/mozambique-first-exports-bio-fuels-european-markets
Reyadh, M. “The Cultivation Of Jatropha Curcas In Egypt.” http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5402e/x5402e11.htm

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