Utilization of Wastewater for Cultivation of Jatropha in Egypt

Abstract

The world demand for energy has hugely increased in the recent decades. Traditional energy sources are limited and for the long term are not sufficient for the forthcoming generations. Utilization of biofuel plants to fulfill this demand is an objective of great interest. Jatropha curcas was considered worldwide as one of the most promising biofuel crops for the next several decades. Biodiesel production from jatropha seed oil has a high content of free fatty acid. However, the expansion was faced by obstacles, such as the lack of elite lines with high productivity as well as insufficient good water for agriculture in semiarid region. Plant tissue culture was considered as the technique for rapid propagation and production of sufficient plant materials with high quality. Direct organogenesis presents an advantage to permit maximum fidelity in terms of genetic stability of the produced plants. Actually, there are very few laboratories worldwide that can use the micropropagation technique to produce in vitro jatropha plants at the commercial level, and JOil laboratory in Singapore is considered one of the best producers of them. Egypt has a strong potential for large-scale plantations, to be one of the biggest inedible oil production countries promoting the renewable energy development. Geographically, it has strong sunlight, high temperature in summer, warm in winter season, large-scale nonarable land (about 94%), and availability of wastewater. According to Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW) report, the total amount of wastewater in Egypt is estimated as 7.3 billion m³/year, and approximately, 3.6 billion m³/year is currently treated. It is predicted that by the year 2037, the discharge of wastewater may be about 32 million m³/day, equal to 11.7 billion m³/year. In the present study, an overview of our successful research results in utilizing treated wastewater of residential city in the irrigation and the productivity of jatropha plantations. This will play an important role and contribute to the provision of freshwater for food crops. Evaluate jatropha growth characters of elite local and imported jatropha varieties were evaluated in greenhouse and open field under the complete drip irrigation program of treated wastewater.