Location assessment for producing biodiesel fuel from Jatropha Curcas in Iran

Abstract Biofuels are considered renewable sources of energy which can replace fossil fuels using naturally extracted fuels from the environment to fulfil growing demands for energy in developing countries. This paper aims to select a suitable province for producing biodiesel from Jatropha plants in new climate conditions of Iran using the additive ratio assessment method (ARAS). Previous feasibility studies lack the environmental factor when considering the cultivation of Jatropha plants in Iran. In this work, the relevant main selecting criteria were identified through using a literature review. Then, the most effective criteria were chosen and categorised as environmental, social and economical factors. The weighting of the criteria was determined by Shannon entropy method and using expert opinions. Next, the ARAS method was used for prioritizing the provinces in Iran. From the results, it is observed that the environmental factor is the key parameter for selecting biodiesel plant location. Furthermore, Golestan province was selected as the best candidate location in Iran for establishing a biodiesel plant using Jatropha plants. Using the semi-arid pastures of Golestan province (about 402,000 Hectares), 1,930,000 tons biodiesel can be produced annually for supplying the fuel to 600,000 diesel cars.