Vodou shrub is alternative fuel

[ebonysunflower]

Vodou shrub is alternative fuel
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com

DOURET, Haiti -- For generations, Vodou practitioners in rural Haiti
have sworn by the mystic qualities of Jatropha, an indigenous plant
believed to purge evil spirits and release the trapped souls of the
dead.

But the shrub may soon be in bigger demand among the living. Jatropha
shows tremendous promise as a source of biofuel in Latin America and
the Caribbean, and especially Haiti, which suffers from chronic
shortages of diesel fuel, electricity -- just about everything except
Jatropha.

In June, Miami hosted a Jatropha World 2008 Conference that trumpeted
the plant's properties. And later this week, alternative fuel sources
such as Jatropha will likely share the spotlight again at an energy
panel during the annual Americas Conference in Miami.

It has been known for decades that the oil-producing seeds of the
Jatropha curcas, once they are crushed and processed, can be a potent
source of energy. But now the so-called ''miracle plant'' is sparking
heightened interest as oil prices skyrocket and reports filter out of
India and Nepal of power plants there being fueled by Jatropha.

`A GREAT OPPORTUNITY'

The United States and Brazil -- the world's leading producer of
ethanol -- signed an agreement last year to help Haiti, the Dominican
Republic, El Salvador and St. Kitts and Nevis explore the potential of
Jatropha and other biofuel-producing plants. Scientists from both
nations have toured Haiti to scout the potential for the plant's
commercial cultivation.

''Jatropha offers a great opportunity for Haiti,'' said Mark
Lambrides, chief of the energy and climate change division at the
Organization of American States.

Jatropha, or Gwo Medsiyen, is everywhere in Haiti. For centuries, it
has been part of the medicinal arsenal of Vodou priests and
priestesses. They use it in burial ceremonies to banish evil spirits,
in ritual baths, as a remedy for constipation, and as an acne cure.

It can also be used, Vodou practitioners believe, to physically harm
one's enemies, through incantations. The toxic seed is dropped into a
kerosene lamp, and the longer the lamp burns, the longer the harm is
supposed to endure.

Haitian farmers also use Jatropha as a ''living fence'' to ward off
crop-devouring goats. The plant's bitter taste is a goat repellent.
And because the plant is highly toxic, there is no conflict -- as with
corn and sugar cane -- over whether to use Jatropha to feed the hungry
or fuel a diesel engine.

POWER PROBLEMS

Nowhere in the region is the need to find a renewable source of energy
more glaring than in Haiti, where electricity is unreliable and often
unavailable. Decades of cutting trees for charcoal to cook with have
transformed Haiti's once lush landscape into an environmental
disaster.

Last year, Haiti imported about $200 million in diesel fuel, with half
going for transportation and the rest to run generators. Burning
nearly 3.5 million gallons a month of diesel fuel and 219,976 gallons
a month of other fuel oil, Haiti's electrical company eked out enough
electricity to run the power grid for eight hours a day in Port-au-
Prince, according to a study prepared for the U.S. Government.

As a result, wealthier Haitians rely heavily on generators.

The situation is far worse outside the capital. A little more than one
in 10 of the country's nearly nine million citizens have access to the
limited government supply of electricity, according to state-owned
Electricité d'Haiti.

But Jatropha, which grows up to 13 feet high, could do more than
fulfill a portion of the nation's energy needs. It could also help
reforest a country that has been denuded by rampant clear-cutting.

Where most crops don't grow, Jatropha will.

GROWING JOBS

''There are about [1.5 million acres] of dry and arid land, which is
suitable for Jatropha plantations and would create thousands of rural
jobs,'' said Reginald Noel, a biofuel pioneer in Haiti, whose car runs
on biodiesel. ``We can satisfy our energy needs in this country and
divert money to our farmers.''

Johanna Mendelson-Forman agrees. She has been a leading advocate of
Jatropha's potential as a fuel source, testifying before the U.S.
Congress on its benefits here and in Central America, where the shrub
is known as Piñon Blanco. Jatropha, she believes, can literally light
up the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti and the
Dominican Republic.

''Even if you were to harvest just what's being used as hedging, you
could still get enough of the crop to produce oil for villages,'' she
said.

WARY OF COMPETITION

Not everyone is happy about Jatropha's rising caché.

Vodou priestess Immacula Jean grows the shrub next to her mud shack
off a rural dirt road in Douret. For $50 to $75, she offers ritual
baths using Jatropha to purge evil spirts or provide good luck.

Her services, she said, are in high demand at funerals in which family
members believe that the death was the result of a curse. Before the
body is laid to rest, a piece of the shrub is cut and placed under the
head. As the coffin is lowered into the grave, it is beaten with the
shrub to expel the zombie, or evil spirit, and free the loved one's
soul.

Of the prospect of Jatropha becoming a major source of biodiesel fuel,
Jean said: ``I don't like the competition.''

At least three dozen Jatropha projects have sprouted in Haiti in the
past year, including nurseries in Terrier Rouge and Lhomond. In
Lhomond, 10,000 seedlings have been distributed to local farmers by
Entreprise Exploitation Jatropha, a Haitian-based biofuel venture. But
getting investors to bet on Haiti, with its tangled bureaucracy and
political paralysis, won't be easy.

''We need the right technology, the right variety,'' said Gael
Pressoir, who holds a doctorate in plant breeding and genetics.

MANY VARIETIES

In Haiti, just as elsewhere in Latin America, India and Africa,
Jatropha comes in a dizzying number of varieties.

Pressoir, who was educated in France and worked in Mexico and at
Cornell University in New York state before returning to his native
Haiti, is raising funds to build a nonprofit institute that would help
determine which varieties grow best in Haiti's climate, which has two
rainy seasons a year.

At the same time, he is working alongside Noel to breed a nontoxic
Jatropha that would yield between 150 and 200 gallons of biodiesel per
acre and -- as an added benefit for farmers -- produce animal feed.

''With 500,000 acres, we could substitute all of Haiti's imported
diesel fuel,'' he said.

But getting there means finding the right strain of Jatropha and
making it economical to cultivate. And then, regions like Douret,
where flicking on a light switch remains a luxury, could enjoy a
better quality of life.

''There is a huge potential for that crop,'' Pressoir said. ``Now we
need to transform that potential into something real.''

[Ɔkyeame Kwame]

BlackNificent research that you've brought to the family. Take care and stay BlackNificent!

Obadele

[KhepraEvolutionary]

Ee ee m htp
Greetings All!
This is timely and a treasure.
It is very important that OUR Afrikan Sisters and Brothers and Haiti have a means of stepping back up on the world stage.

Sh ee m htp

[pain]

If America's in on it then that means that the Afrikans in most need in Haiti will not be the primary beneficiaries of the plant's product.