Could jatropha be a biofuel panacea?

[jpak]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6278140.stm

It has been used to make soap and candles, or as a remedy for constipation, high fevers and even malaria.

It is also highly toxic. Just four seeds from its plum-sized fruit is enough to kill, while the milky sap from its bark can stain the skin and irritate it for days.

But the wild jatropha bush - spread across the world from Central America by Portuguese settlers in the 16th century - is now being seen as one solution to the world's desperate search for new sources of energy.

Energy giant BP has just announced it is investing almost £32m in a jatropha joint venture with UK biofuels firm D1 Oils.

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