India has over 180 million of wasteland out of which 90 million ha is uncultivable. The degraded and denuded lands arise
due to soil erosions as well as secondary salinizations. However Calotropis procera is a potential plant for bioenergy and biofuel
production in semi arid regions of the country because it is able to grow on such lands. The plant has a growth potential of 2 dry tones
to 40 dry tones per ha depending on the agro climatic conditions of it’s growth. The plant has high level of regeneration potential and
could be harvested up to 4 times a year. The plant yields valuable hydrocarbons which could be converted into diesel substitutes. The
bio-diesel derived from Calotropis procera is free from NOx gases, S02 and Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) and has high cetane
value. Due to it’s enormous potential for growth under adverse climatic conditions Calotropis procera is suggested as potential plant
for bio-diesel production under semi-arid and arid conditions.
Keywords Calotropis procera, Calotropis gigantean, Semi-arid regions, Biomass and Biofuel, Hydrocarbons.
