Is Jatropha's Sun Setting?: Evaluating Jatropha within the Is Jatropha's Sun Setting?: Evaluating Jatropha within the Primary Domains of Sustainable DevelopmentPrimary Domains of Sustainable Development

Presented by: James KierulffMarch 14, 2011

ObjectivesWhat sustainability is / is not.Sustainability measurements for biofuels.How does Jatropha stack up?What to do if a biofuel investment is un-

sustainable.Application:

First, small-holder enterprise. Beyond, to a sustainable growth industry.

SustainabilityWhat it isPrinciple and criterion basedCumulative, even globalImpact assessment spans generationsBroad accountabilityMeasureable

What it is notSimple longevityLocalizedForeseeable time expectationsLimited accountabilityChecklist, only

SustainabilityImportance of Expanded Concept

Future orientationEstablishes broader accountabilityThorough (three domains)

EnvironmentalEconomicSocial

SustainabilityHow did the industry get to this point?

EconomicPlant closuresCrop failuresInvestment lossesSubsidies

SustainabilitySocial

“Green, but not decent jobs (Renner 2008, 40).”Net reduction in livelihoods.“Vulnerable smallholder farms have been expropriated (Oxfam 2007, 1-3).”“Sell us your land or we will negotiate with your widow (Allen-Mills 2007).”Food vs. Fuel.

SustainabilityEnvironment

ByproductsPollution – Air, water, soilDeforestationEcology / Biodiversity

MeasurementInitialJohn Pezzey (1992, 5, 6, 14)

Q = Q(AKaLbRcSdert)

CurrentKirk Hamilton (2006, 22-23,144-145)

W = Cp + Cn + Ci

MeasurementCurrent (Hamilton, cont.)Gross National Savings (GNI – consumption + net current transfers)- Fixed Capital Consumption (Depreciation)= Net National Savings+ Expenditures on Education (Wages, salaries, operational expenses…)- Natural Resource Depletion- Damages from Air Pollution= Genuine Savings

Allows concept of intergenerational equality.

Accounts for all three sustainability domains.

How do biofuels fit in?

Measurement

Assess impact of a given operation.

Certification programs – good.

Add quantification – better.

Fit into current measurement methods, forecast into future.

Biofuels and Sustainability

Example: CO2

$20/per ton of carbon emitted (Hamilton 2006, 156).

∆ CO2 (Field to Wheels)

(Leduc 2009, S130)

Biofuels and Sustainability

Economic:Biomass Production Costs

Soil typeFertility of soil / fertilizationWaterClimatic conditions (altitude, heat/cold, humidity)

Biofuels and Sustainability

Extraction / Refinery CostsOil content (hybrids, seed selection)Crusher/press (temperature, double feed)Refinery efficiency (transesterification,

temperature/pressure)Byproducts (glycerin, glyoxal)

Biofuels and Sustainability

#1 Production Cost: biomass“… biomass cost has most influence on biodiesel cost

(Leduc 2009, 127).”“Feedstock costs are the most important cost

component and contribute to the expenditures up to ... 84.5 % for biodiesel based on rapeseed oil (stand-alone plant) … biodiesel cost of Euro 0.65/l …(Amigun 2008, 15).” ($3.84/gallon).

Subsidies have significant importance for biofuel refineries.

Biofuels and Sustainability

New Industry Mantra: Yields, yields, yields“Impossible” to predict due to faulty models (Achten

2008, 1074). Single tree seed source predictions.Purdue University, USDA databanks.

Biofuels and Sustainability

Environment:Byproducts

Glycerin: hazardous, 10:1 ratio, scalability (B10, B100).

DeforestationEcology / BiodiversityPollutionWater (fertilizer run-off).Air (transportation, mechanical harvesting).Soil (imprecise use of fertilizer).

Biofuels and Sustainability

Social:Land use change

Away from food production (food vs. fuel).

DeforestationPeople have their living or way of life threatened. One by one deal making slowly having aggregate

community impact.

Biofuels and Sustainability

Worker rights Wages – low? Equitable partnerships.Working conditions.

Land Ownership Community looses way of life, necessities.

Biofuels and Sustainability

Hype:1) Wasteland reclamation2) Low water, fertilization and temperature

demands3) Pest resistance

Pest resistance claims holding but reports of pests and diseases are increasing. Low economic impact reported. Not expected to last (Nielsen 2010, 23).

4) “Green Gold” (Renner 2007, 20)

Jatropha’s Contribution

Empirical, measureable, all three domains.Economic

4.5 to 6 MT of seed per hectare, per year, in optimal conditions (Franken 2010, 22-23).

Anything better? Millettia? (Mantra)

SocialWork environment.

Environment

Jatropha’s Contribution

Gradually move to new “crop”.Local solutions – two examples.

Bring cake back with trucks that pick up seed (trucks do not travel to pick up locations empty).

Shared soil testing resources.

Driving in Sustainability

Achten, WMJ, L. Verchot, Y.J. Franken, E. Mathijs, V.P. Singh, R. Aerts and B. Muys. “Jatropha Bio-Diesel Production and Use.” Biomass and Bioenergy 32, no. 12 (2008), 1063-1084.

Allen-Mills, Tony. "Biofuel Gangs Kill for Green Profits." The Sunday Times Online, US & Americas News, June 3, 2007. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/ article1875709.ece (accessed 05/12/2010).

Amigun, B., F. Müller-Langer and H. von Blottnitz. “Predicting the costs of biodiesel production in Africa: learning from Germany” Energy for Sustainable Development 12, no. 1 (2008), 5-21.

Franken, Ywe Jan and Flemming Nielsen. “Plantation Establishment and Management.” In “The Jatropha Handbook: from cultivation to Application” Jan de Jongh (ed) FACT Foundation, 2010.

Hamilton, Kirk, Giovanni Ruta, Katharine Bolt, Anil Markandya, Suzette Pedroso-Galinato, Patricia Silva, M. Saeed Ordoubadi, Glenn-Marie Lange and Liaila Tajibaeva. Where is the Wealth of Nations?: Measuring Capital for the 21st Century. (Washington D.C.: The World Bank, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2006).

Leduc,Sylvain, Karthikeyan Natarajan, Erik Dotzauer, Ian McCallum and Michael Obersteiner. “Optimizing biodiesel production in India.” Applied Energy 86, no. S1 (2009), S125–S131

Nielsen, Fleming. “Plantation Establishment and Management.” In “The Jatropha Handbook: from cultivation to Application” Jan de Jongh (ed) FACT Foundation, 2010.

References

Oxfam International. Bio-fuelling Poverty: Why the EU renewable-fuel target may be disastrous for poor people. Oxfam Briefing Note, 1 November 2007, http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/policy/ trade/downloads/bn_biofuels.pdf?m=234&url=http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/policy/trade/ downloads/bn_wdr2008.pdf (accessed February 22, 2010).

Pezzey, John. “Sustainable Development Concepts: An Economic Analysis.” World Bank Environment Paper Number 2, Washington D.C.: The World Bank, 1992.

Renner, Michael, Sean Sweeney and Jill Kubit. Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World (Nairobi, Kenya: UN Environment Programme, September 2008).

Renner, Rebecca. "Green Gold in a Shrub." Scientific American 296, no. 6 (2007): 20-23.

References