BP backs Jatropha as a biodiesel feedstock
BP and D1 Oils have announced that they are to form a 50/50 joint venture, to be called D1-BP Fuel Crops Limited, to accelerate the planting of jatropha curcas. The joint venture has been established in order to make more sustainable biodiesel feedstock available on a larger scale.
Jatropha is a drought resistant, inedible oilseed bearing tree which does not require the good quality soil that would normally be used for food crops. As such it will not promote the rainforest deforestation that has resulted from palm oil plantations being used to supply biodiesel plants.
Image: Tree Oils India
Under the terms of the agreement, BP and D1 Oils intend to invest around $160 million over the next five years. D1 Oils will contribute their 172,000 hectares of existing plantations in India, Southern Africa and South East Asia and the joint venture will have exclusive access to the elite jatropha seedlings produced through D1 Oils’ plant science programme. It is anticipated that some one million hectares will be planted over the next four years, with an estimated 300,000 hectares per year thereafter.
Jatropha oil produced from the plantations will be used to meet both local biodiesel requirements and for export to markets such as Europe, where domestic feedstock produced from rapeseed and waste oil is unlikely to be sufficient to meet anticipated regulatory led demand for biodiesel of around 11 million tonnes a year from 2010.
Jatropha sounds ideal for Australia however, Western Australia has declared jatropha curcas a noxious weed and it is listed as a weed in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
If you know of anyone looking at jatropha planting in Australia please let us know.
Source: BP, Weeds Australia, Biofuel Review
Filed under: Agriculture, Biodiesel, Biofuel, Projects
Hi Luke
Would you mind acknowledging that the above photograph is taken from the web site of Tree Oils India Limited (www.treeoilsindia.com) under the head - Location?
I am looking at Jatropha planting in Australia and neighbouring countries.
Regards
Sreenivas
Hi Sreenivas,
Acknowledgment complete. Good luck with Jatropha planting in Australia. I would be very interested to hear how you go with establishing Jatropha plantations in Australia.
Luke
Hi Luke
Thanks for the positive and quick response and I sincerely appreciate your understanding. I will keep you posted on further developments.
Regards
Sreenivas
Hi Luke
As quite rightly pointed out Jatropha is a declared weed in a number of states and territories and therefore would be difficult to grow anywhere in Australia. Furthermore, the harvesting of the nut/seed is very labour intensive and not suited to high labour cost areas like Australia. It would great to use the oil but it has significant stability problems and must be stored under nitrogen. The biodiesel is also very unstable and must be stabilised in situ which is quite difficult in continuous processors. The best recommendation is to produce biodiesel and use it where it is grown. Hope BP thought about these issues.
You have a good point. Particularly when you read the Natural Fuels Australia exports biodiesel from Darwin article. I’m surprised nobody has commented on the fact that Natural Fuels is importing feedstock and then exporting biodiesel. Why not make the biodiesel where the feedstock is grown?
Dear Mr.Luke,
We are working with the same pulse, on Biofuel project from Soil to Oil, Base is Jatropha Curcus,
Region- India
Target : 01 Lac Hectare Jatropha Plantation,
And Looking for International Investor,
Nilesh M.Bobade
Cell:09225540384 / 09225540383
Tel:+91-2112-651384
Email: ibdc.bmt@gmail.com
We have a new Hybrid of Jatropha, which we called SuperGene.
The trees are of multi-branch, need no pruning, early fruiting, and harvest round the year.
All of you are welcome to visit our SuperGene farm in Malaysia, as we are looking for International investors to plant the SuperGene Jatropha.
We will email pictures of our SuperGene Jatropha to you.
My contact is
tuntanny@gmail.com
Thank you.
Tanny Lee
Malaysia
i was wondering that if we can plant this tyrpe plantation in YEMEN ,as its a terrace cultivation ,barren land and very less water
can yourself guide on this ,
we wants to plant in yemen pls guide in this metter
As you all know growing jatropha is easy. Some of us are developing hybrids (I have one like the one from malasia). ???What is the oil content??? On another note…Our research on the label of noxious weed and invasive species shows that it is clearly not invasive without optimum cirumstances (and they do occur naturally in some microclimates). Visit bigislandfuelcrops.com for more specific information…Just out of curiosity, how are all of these thousands of acres of Jatropha going to be harvested?
Hi Ted,
I have confirmed via one grower that the Jatropha crops in India will be harvested by hand as you would expect in a country with such an abundance of cheap labour. However, that same grower told me they were working on the development of harvesting machinery.
Luke
[...] this link out for Jatropha Curcas plantations BP backs Jatropha as a biodiesel feedstock « Envirofuel - Sustainable transport for Australia Its clearly under serious consideration elsewhere with the backing of BP (Not saying if thats good [...]
H Luke & All,
Regarding some of the points on Jatropha that have been brought up on/about 18 July, 2007:
1. Cost of labor to high in Aussie – Try working it this way (Approximation) Allowing that 2 workers can look after 10 hectares - Salary @ US$1,000 p/w = US$100,000 – Using good plant stock 10 hectares can produce 10 MT’s per year – FOB min US$500 = US$140,000. Can easily be commercially viable.
2. Jatropha Oil having significant stability problems – Not if it is processed using “modern” technology. I know of a processor that produces “pure diesel” which eliminates all the stability problems in storage and the equipment can operate 24/7 with maintenance only once per year. Is “very” commercially viable – There is no need to make unstable, environmentally substandard and always needs subsidies. Jatropha plantations are generally converted into biodiesel with about 15% loss of volume. This new process does not produce an ester and glycerol but straight light oil (diesel) and has thus a higher yield (about 5% loss), but that is not all. The residual oil in the press-cake as well as the crushed shells as well as the hulls can also be converted. This method can capture about 30% yield from the dry mass of cellulosic material, which is by the way, about double what the cellulosic ethanol proponent’s yield on energy. Additionally, using this new process there is no need to store either the seeds or the oil. And as we all know, the market for the diesel is unlimited and screaming out for supply of this form of fuel.
3. Regarding producing and using Biofuel where it is grown/produced – Some countries need the income not the fuel and some do not have any requirements (at the moment) for the quantity that they can produce.
The above should bring a few comments.
Cheers,
Peter
Peter wrote, “i know of a process(or)…” on Nov 24th.
what process is that, are there any intrenet references?
Mission Biofuels use the Crown process which apparently produces about 10% glycerol.
Are there any varieties of jatropha which are not regarded as noxious in Australia?
regards,
Gerry
Hi Peter,
I would be interested in learning more about the straight to diesel process for jatropha…we are looking at traditional processing methods and would be open to a more efficient method of production into diesel.
Thanks,
Singh
singh@mudragroup.com
Yes - Peter, I would be interested in acquiring such processing equipment for central american projects, that are creating jobs for local communities. Please post or email to me the details.
Andrew
I am very interested about complex use of Jatropha plant with multipurpose applications.
Hi, Peter, could you co-operate with us in this direction?
Regards,
Grig
Hi: We have been manufacturing biodiesel and utilizing it in our diesel trucks for about a year now. Our oil base is used canola oil. We had a problem with fatty acids, but by cooling the biodiesel and filtering with a one micron idustrial filter, we eliminated the problem. We burn 90% biodiesel with 10 % diesel mix in minus 20C weather here in Canada. We find that there are a lot of people giving lip service about the importance of eco-friendly fuels, but we are finding that there are few that are willing to switch from petro diesel to biodeisel, even though it’s cheaper to use.
Mr. Tanny Lee,
First of all congratulation for your invention and efforts as you have said that You have a new Hybrid of Jatropha, which you proudly called SuperGene.
Quite impressed to know that the trees are of multi-branch, need no pruning, early fruiting, and harvest round the year.
Well acutally I am looking for jatropha seeds in bulk say 1000mT per month in singapore. So tell me what would be your offering price for 1000mT to FOB Singapore.
Awaiting for your optimistice feedback to come.
Regards,
SAMEER RUPARELIA.
sameer.ruparelia@gmail.com
DEAR SIRS,
Inquiry for jatropha feed stock availability for Export to usa & ALSO Looking for International Investor…
REGARDS RAJ HAZARIKA +91 94355 58488.
To Whom so ever it may concern
Those who Require Jatropha Seeds in bulk as well as those who wish to do cultivation of Jatropha in their respective country then who do have the germination hybrid seeds also we do have the Jatropha Saplings of 1 years.
Interested Companies/Government Bodies/Individulas can contact me at “sameer.ruparelia@gmail.com” and my cell number is 0091 92 27 21 36 34.
Mr Tanny Lee.
I want to first congratulate you on the discovery of a jatropha hybrid seeds. What is the price per Kg. i will like to know more about the properties of the hybrid seed.
Pls treat urgent
Dr Kabir Abdulkadir from Nigeria
+2348035971417
I am very keen to know if Jatropha can be grown in North East India, say in the state of Assam because we have over 1000 hectares of land available for a good project.
Any one interested, get in touch
Australia is ideal for oil palm plantations in the NT ,ORD RIVER AREA AND NORTH QUUENSLAND,also has big potentialto increase castor beans ,peanuts and soybeans production giving together with sugarcane and swet sorghum to ethanol plantations,huge agroindustrial potential to its less develop North
We have 3000 acres of land in the Northern Area of Peninsular Malaysia.Our intention is to plant Jatropha curcas. We need funder or investor to partipate in this project.
Any interested party, pls contact us
Hamzah
6013-3958508/ hamzah888@gmail.com
Jatropha Curcas OnLine!
http://jatrophaonline.wordpress.com/
Narender,
Are you still seeking a jatropha project for your 1,000 acres in India. If so I believe I have a company that will invest in this project with you, if you are interested.
Rob- robatngg@iprimus.com.au
Peter,
Can I get details from you on this new technology?
I’m new to this biodiesel thing but I would like to make this stuff (for myself). Am I able to put it directly into my diesel car? I know it must depend on refinement standards but generally speaking, is it easy enough to refine to a quality that can be put in cars? Is anyone making a stand alone machine that I can purchase and keep on my land?
Cheers,
Alex.
I represent a range of sophisticated investors in Aust who would like to invest in the right project any where in world, however would also prefer an Aust based opportunity. Found this forum excellent…any answers to problems /concerns raised eg fuel stability,quality,mechanical harvesting, catologing of and trial of numerous hybrids
stephenblair@ozemail.com.au
Have a look at Jatoil for an Australian listed Jatropha producing company with Indonesia and Vietnam being targeted for Jatropha plantations. Some good info on the website.
Cheers Adrian
I also found this forum interesting. I am also interested in investing in an Australian based opportunity. However the Jatropha plant is on the list of noxious weeds in Australia, mainly because of its ability to invade new land with having little or few predators in this country. The main concern is the fact that when the pods mature and explode the seeds are dispersed over a few metres, more in floods and when caught on equipment leaving plantations. This issue could be addressed by appropriate controls regarding enclosure of plantations (which can become expensive) or a safe zone of a few metres (to catch any stray seeds) surrounding the plantation.
Another alternative for biofuel may be marine algae production which may be more acceptable in Australia.
Hi
I have a large tract of idle lands in the Luzon area, Philippines which is highly suitable for jatropha plantation, and I am looking for venture capitalists who will consider investment in this area. I am looking for an amount about US$5 million and I will be able to provide proper presentation to such potential investor.
I have been working and collaborating with University of the Philippines Los Banos College of Agricultural in the propagation and farming system for jatropha.
I am very confident that this endeavour will bring favorable result and hope you can recommend some people for this purpose.
Thank you.
Erli Rivera
Hello Erli Rivera (Stephen Blair and other investors - you may be interested)
I am a Venture Capitalist based in Sydney, Australia and am willing to hear your proposal. Please contact me via my hotmail address scrivmeister@hotmail.com. I will then give you my contact details. I am currently have mobile technology to process (start to finish) Jatropha on site and will consider a trial if the project suits. The process produces high grade biodiesel suitable for use in cars. If there are any others interested in a VC venture or other potential unique VC related investments, please e-mail your interest.
Regards,
Alex.
Hi,
For those interested in an Australian based opportunity utilizing Moringa Oliefera (not registered weed) please contact at dkmay@multiskilled.net
There is an incomplete amount of information at
Regards
Daniel
I am a private investor based in the United Kingdom. I focus on seed capital, early-stage, start-up, ventures, LLC and all round completion and expansion of investment projects that need funding. I am interested to invest in your company on a long-term business relationship. If this is alright with you kindly get back to me with more details about your company. Dr. Frank Morgan.(Individual/Angel investor)
servicesfmg1@yahoo.co.uk
Hi, I am the NEW KID planter on the continent - Penang Malaysia.
I am looking for investor and / or partner to plant the bio diesel plant - Jatropha in large scale with me.
Next on line will be doing research on the stem cell, cross breed etc.
Any one interested, please contact me at cwchiu@streamyx.com
Thank You.
Regards,
Chiu