Factors affecting the potential of Jatropha curcas for sustainable biodiesel production: A critical review

Scarcity, insecurity, and severe environmental impact of fossil fuel-based energy consumption have enthused the production and utilization of alternative energy resources. Biodiesel is identified as promising renewable energy that can substitute the petrol diesel consumption with numerous advantages. However, more than 95% of biodiesel is produced from edible oil crops, which jeopardizes the food supplies. As a result, exploring inexpensive and non-edible oil-bearing energy crops such as Jatropha curcas (Jatropha) has been the target of governments, researchers, industries, and policymakers. However, sustainable biodiesel production from this plant is not achieved yet due to various ecological, socioeconomic, legislative, and technological factors. Previous reports showed that the individual impact of those factors; however, all factors are strongly correlated, and the impact of one factor is significantly affected by the situation of other factors. Therefore, the present review is devoted to critically examine and discuss the sole and interactive effect of various factors affecting the cultivation of Jatropha for sustainable biodiesel production by reviewing more than 185 published articles. Various oil extraction and biodiesel production technologies and factors affecting the physicochemical properties of Jatropha oil and biodiesel were profoundly investigated. Moreover, the performance, combustion, and emission characteristic of diesel engines fuelled with Jatropha biodiesel were carefully reviewed and compared with petrol diesel. In conclusion, factors affecting the sustainable biodiesel production potential of Jatropha vary across growing regions due to variation in determinants, and the performance and emission characteristic of diesel engines fuelled with Jatropha biodiesel slightly differed from petrol diesel.