Can jatropha curcas contribute to climate change mitigation?

Climate change mitigation is one of the key arguments for promoting biofuels. It has been claimed that cultivating jatropha increases the carbon stock when grown on marginal land, and additional GHG reductions are possible by replacing fossil diesel with biofuels. We have shown that bioenergy from jatropha can generate GHG savings of more than 40% compared with fossil fuels. However, jatropha can also create a carbon debt, delaying net savings for more than 50 years. The potential for climate change mitigation depends on where and how the value chain is established and is particularly sensitive to the initial soil and vegetation carbon stocks, land preparation, crop management and use of by-products.