Why do we need to prepare Jatropha seeds before oil extraction?
High production of biodiesel is required to cope with the depletion of current energy sources. Hence, a large amount of Jatropha seeds need to be prepared prior to the oil extraction process in order to meet the demand.
Why is jatropha oil important for biodiesel production?
This allows a greater exposure of kernels to the press tool in order to increase the extraction efficiency. The quality of the Jatropha crude oil is also an important issue since it can affect the quality of the biodiesel production for use in vehicles , .
How to reduce seed cost in Jatropha biodiesel industry?
The reduction in the price of the seed from US$0.10 to US$0.08 per kg can decrease the price of the crude oil from US$0.83 to US$0.67 per litre . As a result, the process of mechanisation has become the primary development trend to reduce the seed cost in the Jatropha biodiesel industry.
How will manual processing affect the Jatropha industry?
Manual processing, which is time consuming and cost ineffective due to the high reliance on workers, will cause the Jatropha industry to be less sustainable especially when large scale production is envisaged. In Malaysia, a total of 259,906 ha of Jatropha plantation area have already been identified in 2012 .