Pongamia – better than jatropha?

In Qatar, a report indicates that the pongamia pinnata tree may be replacing jatropha as the new wonder-feedstock of biofuels. Although the crop can take a year or two longer than jatropha to mature, the yield double of that of jatropha at up to 60 kilograms of oil per tree per year; and the trees can be planted in high density, up to 1,850 trees per hectare.

The tree, which is native to southeast Asia and Australia, has been dubbed promising by the European Biofuels Technology Platform, but the lack of large-scale commercial success has given rise to uncertainty.