A tree native to Australia, India and southeast Asia is the latest biofuel fad.

Pongamia pinnata is hailed as the latest and the best substitute for palm oil, a food product that many argue is a sin to be used as industrial fuel.

Pongamia pinnata is said to yield 23 tons per hectare of crop versus 11 tons from palm oil.

Pongamia pinnata has displaced jatropha tree which was, few years ago, hailed as the palm oil replacement. Needless to say, jatropha was a flop: he tree needed fertilizer and harvesting and processing required too much energy.

Australia’s Queensland University says Pongamia is a strong “candidate” while study by the Indian government terms Pongamia as a crop with “immense potential”.