The Potentials of Jatropha Plantations in Egypt: A Review

Abstract

Jatropha curcas L. is one of the recently planted trees that utilizes wastewater in Egypt. It is not just because of its features, such as drought tolerance, rapid growth, and easy propagation, higher oil content than other oil crops, but also because of the Egyptian unique model which uses waste-water for planting Jatropha in the marginal desert land, which in turn represents an excellent opportunity to make use of such land. Moreover, this system provides a good way for reusing the treated sewage water, which itself represents an environment hazard. In addition, Jatropha plantations can be used in the future to be the base for the biodiesel production industry. This review tried to cover the current situation of Jatropha plantations in Egypt. To do so, the paper first reviewed the available land and wastewater resources, and then the potential EU biofuel market situation. Finally, it discussed the biofuel production potentials in Egypt.