Potential of Jatropha Curcas Derived Biodiesel for Rice Farmers in Thailand

This study aims at investigating the Jatropha Curcas cultivation areas that would support rice farmers' community production of biodiesel. A questionnaire survey was developed to evaluate the use of biodiesel by rice farmers, and the potential of these farmers to supply the production of biodiesel from their own Jatropha Curcas cultivation. In this study, 40 areas in 20 provinces in Thailand were selected, and divided into 3 groups: small size (S), medium size (M), and large size (L), with total average area of 425 hectares, 742 hectares, and 1,241 hectares, respectively. The results showed that the direct consumption by farmers in tillage, water management, and transportation was 56.31-59.25 liters/hectare/year, while the harvesting which is generally performed by outsourced labors used 59.31-64.69 liters/hectare/year. The estimation of the demand indicated that the direct consumption of diesel was 25,046, 41,814, and 73,276 liters/community/year for S, M and L groups, respectively, corresponding to a demand of biodiesel of 27,794, 46,404, and 81,319 liters/community/year. This led to an average number of Jatropha Curcas trees to cultivate in order to meet the demand of 54,021-99,849, 90,060-160,118, and 163,634-349,394 trees/community for S, M and L groups, respectively. Additionally, the results from the survey pointed out 3 types of areas available for Jatropha Curcas plantation in the rice farmers' communities: abandoned lands, paddy fields boundary, and plot boundary. The total of available areas is 2.72-6.88 hectares and 175-294 km for S group, 2.24-8.80 hectares and 242-743 km for M group, and 2.40-2.88 hectares and 397-759 km for L group. By using effectively all areas of abandoned land and rice field boundary, and some part of rice plots boundary, the farmers in S, M and L groups could meet 69.73%, 68.30%, and 93.41% of their need in biodiesel, respectively. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of CEO of Sustainable Energy System, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT).