Petroplants are the plants which provide
liquid hydrocarbons as a substitute of liquid fuels. The hydrocarbons present
in these plants can be converted to petroleum hydrocarbons.
Petroplants include the
members Euphorbiaceae, Apocyanaceae, Urticaceae, Asclepiaceae
The oil crisis during World war
II had led the Italians and the French to switch over to petroplants for
petroleum production. The thick milky latex, extracted from Euphorbia abyssinica was
used in gasoline refinery. In 1970, Melvin Calvin showed the feasibility of
procuring petroleum substitutes from certain specific groups of plants which
are rich in hydrocarbons. Gopher plant (Euphorbia lathyris, milk bush (Euphorbia tirucalli) and milk weed(Calotrophis procera) are
important petroplants. One advantage with the Euphoria plants is that they can
grow even in semiarid lands and do not require irrigation and fertilizers for
their growth.
Certain tree species, such
as Copaifea landsdorfii and Copaifea
nultijuga are rich in oil . A single tree can give as much as
20-30 litres of oil in 2-3 hours in a single tapping.
Villagers
in India use Jatropha oil can be an efficient and environmentally clean
substitute for diesel. In Philippines, bamboo tube filled ignited fruits of
petroleum nut (Pittosporum) is used as a torch light. Oil of Pittosporum
rosinifarum contains monoterpene hydrocarbons, pinene and myrcene
Cuphea
oil (Cuphea spp), Cramble oil(Crambe abyssinica), Vernonia oil
(Vernonia sp), bladderpod (Lesqurella sp), meadow foam oil (Limnanthes
alba) etc,
in
the United States, a blend made of sunflower oil and diesel called
sunoil, is widely used in diesel engines. similarly, coconut oil is mixed with diesel
to give a blend, called cocodisesl, for use in diesels engine.
There
are many species of Euphorbia which yield fuel oil resembling rude oil. Euphobia
lathyris is an example.
