Abstract:
In the current scenario of depleting energy resources, increasing food insecurity and global warming,
Jatropha has emerged as a promising energy crop for India. The aim of this study is to examine the life
cycle energy balance for Jatropha biodiesel production and greenhouse gas emissions from post-energy
use and end combustion of biodiesel, over a period of 5 years. It’s a case specific study for a small scale,
high input Jatropha biodiesel system. Most of the existing studies have considered low input Jatropha
biodiesel system and have used NEB (Net energy balance i.e. difference of energy output and energy
input) and NER (Net energy ratio i.e. ratio of energy output to energy input) as indicators for estimating
the viability of the systems. Although, many of them have shown these indicators to be positive, yet the
values are very less. The results of this study, when compared with two previous studies of Jatropha,
show that the values for these indicators can be increased to a much greater extent, if we use a high input
Jatropha biodiesel system. Further, when compared to a study done on palm oil and Coconut oil, it was
found even if the NEB and NER of biodiesel from Jatropha were lesser in comparison to those of Palm oil
and Coconut oil, yet, when energy content of the co-products were also considered, Jatropha had the
highest value for both the indicators in comparison to the rest two.
