Comprehensive Jatropha Report

The Comprehensive Jatropha Report provides practical data, updates and insights about the jatropha biofuel industry. More »

A Comprehensive Cellulosic Ethanol Report

The Comprehensive Cellulosic Ethanol Report was prepared precisely to cater to this need for a clear, balanced and comprehensive guide about this important emerging business opportunity. More »


Archive for the ‘Company’ category

« Older Entries

From Micro Propagation to Mass Propagation – A Jatropha Success Story

May 26th, 2011

One of the previous entries in the blog elaborated about the problems with Jatropha propagation and the need for tissue culture for ramping up Jatropha business. The persistent inconsistencies associated with macro propagation makes tissue culture a must need for Jatropha’s success.

JOil, a Singapore based company which is a joint venture between Temasek Life Sciences and Tata Chemicals have come up with remarkable success in developing over two million Jatropha tissue culture plants in different regions of the world (India, China, Philippines, Thailand, Kenya etc)

Mass production of Jatropha would get a big boost once this technology is scaled up successfully. Improvements in performance of the plant through specific breeding programs have always remained to be futile attempts. Giant companies like BP have records of abandoning attempts for Jatropha micro propagation due to uncertainties about commercial viabilities. But JOil is genuinely catalyzing a turnaround for biofuel industry. Joil is in talks with other companies such as Yoma Strategic Holdings, Europhtonic Group, Trafigura Biofuels etc to partner with them so as to improve the plantation operations.

The initial market for the Jatropha plants will be India, although JOil is also targeting the Philippines and Thailand – where it recently appointed Toyota Tsusho Corp as its sales representative, and with which it is also working to set up nurseries and tissue culture facilities there. Another target market is Kenya and Mozambique in East Africa, through partner Tata Chemicals

 

Comments Off »

Posted in Company, Jatropha

Tags:

Jatropha Promises 35% GHG Reduction Potential

April 21st, 2011

There have been so much uncertainties and debates about the green house emissions and environmental cost of Jatropha biodiesel. In African sub continent, there has been quite a few projects that are getting dragged and delayed due to the issues being raised about the environmental sustainability potential of Jatropha.

A recent report from Jatropha Alliance and Sun Biofuels would probably do good to silence the critics. The study highlights that EU’s goal of slashing greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 35% can be met through utilising Jatropha and that Sun Biofuels Mozambique could save 39% of GHGs compared to fossil fuels if the jatropha-derived biodiesel was produced in the UK.

An independent GHG life cycle calculation was conducted for Sun Biofuels Mozambique in order to assess the impact on Jatropha biofuels in Mozambique. The study was further validated and reviewed by researchers from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and scientists from LEI Agricultural Economic Research. Land use change, Seed yield, oil yield and nitrogen fertilizers were found to be the three major factors that influence the level of GHG saving achieved by Jatropha.

The report also highlights the potential of Jatropha biodiesel to achieve GHG savings of up to 73%. If this biodiesel is consumed locally, the value increased to 48%. Sun Biofuels Mozambique is targeting seed yield of 6 tonnes per hectare per year, further raising this to 65%. However the most influencing factor is nitrogen fertiliser. If Sun Biofuels Mozambique is able to substitute 100% of nitrogen fertilisers with organic Fertiliser, for example Jatropha seed cake, the GHG saving balance could go up to 73%.

more information available here

Comments Off »

Posted in Company, Jatropha, Research

Tags:

Next Test Flight for Jatropha Biofuel

April 2nd, 2011

Mexican carrier Interjet and Airbus have conducted their jatropha-based biofuel flight in Airbus A320 aircraft on 1st of April. The biofuel is made from locally sourced jatropha, harvested in the southern state of Chiapas. According to Airbus, the aim of the demonstration flight and the project was to speed up the commercialization of aviation biofuel in Mexico. The test flight was the realization of a two year ambition for Interjet to develop a production chain for renewable biofuel, with the purpose of creating a Mexican platform for sustainable aviation bio-fuel.

Jatropha biofuel processed by Honeywell UOP, with a 30% blend was used for the test flight. Honeywell has already developed successful jet fuels from Camelina and Jatropha that could be used without the requirement of engine modification in the aircraft.

Already, Air New Zealand, Continental Airlines, Japan Airlines and TAM Airlines have conducted successful test flights and this study along with those previous studies stands to prove that  Jatropha indded has the potential to reduce Green House Gas emission, especially that of CO2 by up to 80 percent over standard aviation biofuel.

 

More info

 

 

Comments Off »

Posted in Biofuel, Company, Jatropha, Research

Tags:

SG Biofuels Reveals 12000 Unique Genotypes of Jatropha

March 15th, 2011

SG Biofuels, the bioenergy company well known for its R&D facility involved in breeding and biotechnology to develop elite hybrid seeds of Jatropha, recently announced that it is applying more than 1.6 million genetic markers for Jatropha curcas in an effort to develop better marker assisted selection (MAS) methods to produce elite, high-performing cultivars of the crop. The discovery of SNPs using high- through put , low-cost sequencing methods will enable the rapid establishment of high-density genetic maps in Jatropha which has previously seen only a few genetic studies or efforts devoted to marker isolation. This is obviously a significant milestone in the world of second generation biofuels and it is certain that this milestone will accelerate the identification and development of specific genetic traits in Jatropha.

SG biofuels is already known in the biofuel industry for its renowned biotechnology assets such as Jatropha genome sequence, genetic markers linked to key traits, the expansive collection of germplasm and segregated breeding populations which have been providing a powerful platform for development of productive and profitable cultivars of Jatropha. Moreover, the company has expanded its genetic library which now contains more than 12,000 unique genotypes of Jatropha which is the largest and most diverse library of Jatropha germplasm in the world.

More info –http://www.sgfuel.com/

Comments Off »

Posted in Company, Jatropha, Research

Tags:

Bionas Proposes Jatropha Plantations at Borneo Island

March 15th, 2011

Bio Oil National Group, the Malaysian biofuel company has initiated attempts to turn the state of Sarawak in Borneo Island into a producer of green jet fuel, diesel and has decided to invest RM 500 million in the state for the purpose. The state of Sarawak, which is a Malaysian state based at Borneo Island, could be a major producer of Jatropha biofuel since it has a lot of the untapped potential that can be exploited.

Bionas has already expanded their presence to cover China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Taiwan. With the funds generated from London Stock Market, Bionas is planning to invest RM500million at Sarawak and make the Sarawak’s natives to plant Jatropha on their Native Customary Rights (NCR) land. The company would provide seedlings and technical expertise and would buy back the seeds from them for oil extraction purposes.

The company has initiated statewide tour to study the potential of setting up Jatropha plantations at Sarawak and found it to be very fertile with huge plots of NCR land suitable for large-scale Jatropha planting. Bionas already has over 242,000ha of planted estates, a 1.3mil ha land bank, 313 nurseries and collection centres and five processing plants. Bionas can produce 35 million tons of B20 for biofuels, 600,000 tons of seeds, two million tons of Jatropha crude oil and 3.5 million tons of Jatropha additives if it is able to utilize the land available at Sarawak.

http://www.bionas.com.my/

 

Comments Off »

Posted in Company, Jatropha

Tags:

SunBiofuels Expects 20000 Tons Jatropha Oil from its Mozambique Plantations

March 15th, 2011

UK-based Sun Biofuels predicts that it would be able to produce 2 million liters of fuel from its Jatropha plantations in Mozambique by 2018. Sun Biofuels Mozambique, the subsidiary of U.K.-based Sun Biofuels Ltd., has proposed to increase cultivation of Jatropha plants from an existing 2000 hectare of acreage by more than five times to abour 11,000 hectares. The company  has decided to follow the pattern of land zoning approved by the government so that food production is not affected. Sun Biofuels is reported to be on the verge of harvesting Jatropha crop from its existing $7.5 million project to plant Jatropha on 5000 hectares

The forecast made by the company shows that 20,000 tons of crushed oil will be produced from Jatropha by 2018 from the 10,000 hectares that is being developed from the  $15 million investment. They expect an yield of roughly 2 million litres of fuel per year

http://www.sunbiofuels.com/

 

Comments Off »

Posted in Company, Jatropha

Tags:

SG Biofuels Initiates Jatropha Operations in India

March 10th, 2011

After D1 Oils and Mission New Energy, the next Jatropha oil giant to initiate operations in India is none other than the San Diego based SG Biofuels.

SG Biofuels, the renowned bioenergy crop company known for bringing the opportunities of Jatropha to reality through their JMax Jatropha Optimization Platform and many such promising activities, has recently announced the launch of business operations in India, the most promising growth markets for Jatropha.

It is well known that SG Biofuels has been developing hybrid plant seeds optimized for biofuels production, using biotechnology approach. The company will be developing multiple centers to test and adapt hybrid cultivars of its products to grow in a range of conditions in India.

The company has also gone on to make Subhas Pattnaik as the Director of Operations who would offer his expertise in providing strategic planning, business development and executive management support for SG Biofuels, Ltd. SG Biofuels have opted for the right person to provide them assistance in the business end, given the rich background experience Subhas Pattnaik brings with him. Subhas has more than 14 years of experience in agribusiness, including leadership positions at Aditya Birla Retail Ltd and DuPont India, where he was instrumental in initiating DuPont’s Cotton Solution Project in India to provide a complete agribusiness solution to cotton farmers. Moreover, he led operations for Mission New Energy in India where he managed the largest Jatropha plantation acreage in the world spanning more than 200,000 acres, 124,000 farmers and five provinces.

Subhas will play an instrumental role for SG Biofuels in India, especially in co-ordinating the development of multiple JMax Jatropha optimization centers to test and adapt elite hybrid cultivars of Jatropha from its extensive genetic library to a range of growing conditions here in India. It is expected that the launch of business operations by SG Biofules to develop of Jatropha based biofuel would promote India’s economical growth. Oil content and yield improvement through genomic techniques, as a part of R&D initiatives of SG Biofuels, would make Jatropha as a viable feedstock for biofuels in India.

 

Comments Off »

Posted in Company, Jatropha, Research

Tags:

Jatropha Oil for Power Generation

March 6th, 2011

From domestic stoves to internal combustion engines to Bio Derived Synthetic Parrafinic Kerosenes (BIO-SPK) for Jet fuel, Jatropha curcas has emerged as a versatile biofuel alternative. A recent study has shown that crude Jatropha oil, could as well be used now for electric power generation and industrial heating. During the first quarter of 2010, SG Biofuels and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) partnered to test the combustion properties of Jatropha oil. The results of a study revealing the performance and emissions benefits of using Jatropha oil as a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel in industrial furnace, was recently released.

SG Biofuels have been involved in series of scientific and genetic efforts to enhance jatropha across a number of traits, including yield, climate tolerance and improved agronomic inputs. A research to benchmark oil quality and performance of Jatropha is the first of its kind by SG Bioifuels. Funding for the Jatropha study was made available from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Seeds were supplied for the study by SG biofuels from its Latin American plantations.

Blends of 20 percent and 60 percent, in addition to 100 percent Jatropha oil, were burned in the combustion performance tests which revealed that crude Jatropha oil can be blended with residual oil without any problems in separation or modifications to existing burners.  Testing also reveals that crude Jatropha oil has less than 3% of the sulfur content of typical heating oil resulting in significant reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions and a 50 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions than conventional fuel oil. Hence, blending of Jatropha oil with residual oil is a viable option for fueling industrial furnaces, with significant reductions in pollutant emissions such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates. Moreover, Jatropha oil was found to have much lower viscosity, indicating that it does not need to be heated to as high a temperature as what is required for residual fuel oil, which means energy savings increase as more Jatropha oil is blended.

Use of Jatropha oil for electric power generation opens a significant new market in many regions of the world that continue to struggle with the challenge to identify locally produced, sustainable and cost-effective sources of energy. Jatropha being cultivated in under developed African countries, would offer possibilities of self sustaining power generation in a greener way.

more info –  www.sgfuel.com

 

Comments Off »

Posted in Company, Jatropha, Research

Tags:

Poor Jatropha Yield in Indian Plantations – D1 Oils faces Productivity Challenges

March 3rd, 2011

D1 Oils, which recently managed the hiccups over sale of biofuel site at Bromborough, has to now confront with the challenge of limited yield of Crude Jatropha oil from its Indian plantations.

D1 Oils has a joint venture with tea company Williamson-Magor, through which the Jatropha is being grown in north eastern India. Due to heavy monsoon last year during the time of harvest (November), the company was not in a position to extract any oil in the north east this season at the anticipated time. Also, heavy monsoon during June- July last year has resulted in depressed flowering and has also hindered the weeding works essential to maximise crop potential. The company anticipates a fall in production of about 2000 tons in the year 2011 due to these issues.

Adding to the problem of low yield is the lower market value of CJO at US$975 per ton, which was slightly lower than anticipated. This is mainly due to disparities between local and export sale prices as well as ‘spot purchases’ for trial work and repeat purchases from commercial customers.

D1 Oils is continuing to experience demand for greater quantities of crude Jatropha oil than it is able to supply and it has already sold all 500 tonnes of CJO produced over the past 6 months. With a continuous upward trend in global crude oil and vegetable oil (palm, soy, canola) prices, one can certainly expect an increase in the demand for crude Jatropha oil in days to come. A significant growth in collection volumes and harvest levels is essential to produce enough Jatropha oil to match the market demand.

 More info – D1 will release its operational results for the year to the end 2010 by the month of May 2011 at www.d1plc.com

Comments Off »

Posted in Company, Economics, Jatropha

Tags:

Indigenous Technology for Jatropha Biodiesel – Eco Green Fuel Ltd. Shows the Way

February 23rd, 2011

Eco Green Fuels Pvt. Ltd., an Indian biofuel company working on emerging alternative fuels, has recently (Feb 2010) established an indigenous biodiesel manufacturing facility in Bangalore. The company has been involved in setting up biodiesel facility to utilise Pongamia pinnata, Jatropha curcas, Simarouba and Neem for production process for the past few years. It is expected that Karnataka government might support the initiatives by Eco Green Fuels Pvt. Ltd., by promoting the use of barren lands to cultivate Jatropha and Pongamia. Encouraging farmers to cultivate these biofuel feedstocks is also expected to be part of government initiatives to boost biodiesel sector in the state.

The company has already planted 10,000 Jatropa and 25,000 Pongamia plants over 110 acres of land to develop feed stock for initial stages of operations. The biodiesel plant established with complete Indian technology is the first of its kind in India. The use of Indian technology in setting up biodiesel facility, would promote intra industry cooperation to help expand the biodiesel value chain and hence efforts from Eco Green Fuels Pvt. Ltd would encourage new entrepreneurs to follow their way.

More info – http://www.ecogreenfuels.in/

Comments Off »

Posted in Company, Jatropha

Tags:


more » Our Reports

This is another sample post

updated : Feb, 2011
# of pages: 220
Eiffel Tower

updated : Feb, 2011
# of pages: 213
 

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Get regular insights, updates and analysis of the biofuel industry and bio-based sources & products.


Sign up for a FREE subscription of our monthly digest on the following:

  Jatropha  Cellulosic Ethanol
  Emerging Biofuel Feedstock

more » Latest Posts @ Biozio Blog

Loading...
 

Glossary

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |