国家地理-2008-06-26 Mozambique's Better Biofuels 莫桑比克：麻疯树生产绿色柴油（在线收听）

With rising fuel prices, more attention is turning to biofuels. But (the) use of food crops for biofuel raises the concern of food shortages. But one non-food biofuel source is gaining attention. Just inland from the southern Mozambique beach resort of Bilene lies the newly established Deulco Jatropha plantation. Nearly 178,000 acres have been prepared for Jatropha, a hardy plant that produces oilseeds used for biodiesel production. Aubrey Dunn is one of the project managers for the South African firm Deulco.

"And you can see, you can see the ground. It's very very sandy. It's very low in organic matter. And also the soil here, um, is very high in salt, being so close to the sea. So it's not suitable for , um, for any other food crops."

After two months in the nursery, the young Jatropha are planted in the prepared ground. From there it will take about two years for the plants to reach full maturity. One year after planting the first batch of Jatropha trees, the first oilseed fruit are visible.

"The fruit itself color , they go to a yellow and browned color. And then when the, the fruit is the yellow brownish color, then you reap your fruit, and then you take out your seeds. And this is what you're actually gonna press and get oil from."

As Jatropha can be grown on marginal land which is not suitable for other crops, here in Mozambique there seems to be less conflict between land needed for food and land suitable for Jatropha. However, locals use parts of this land for farming and there are concerns that increased demands for land to grow crops for biofuel could dramatically increase the cost of living here. These people were offered compensation in the form of other land to use for agriculture and some gained employment with the new development. But while some may be satisfied with the compensation, a local activist in Mozambique is concerned that the value of subsistence farmers is underestimated.

"Up to now, maybe we can say that the real conflicts related to biofuels maybe are not visible, at this stage. But we can just have a slight picture on what is happening on the land conflicts, because we have this problem, these kinds* of problems on conflict related to the land."

It's widely hoped that Jatropha biodiesel production will offer a new, more sustainable energy source. But that's yet to be proven.