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Announcement from BTL-Bio Jet Fuel + CHP, Special Economic Developement Zone


BTL-Bio Jet Fuel + CHP and Special Economic Developemnt Zone Development in the Sub Tropical Regions. http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2245118&trk=hb_side_g
Biomass Conversions to Liquid Fuels via BTL Processes
Biomass to Liquids (BTL) processes are being designed based on the thermo-chemical platform for converting biomass to biofuels. In an indirect liquefaction process, synthesis gas (syn-gas, CO+H2) is first produced via gasification of solid biomass or liquid bio-oil produced by the fast pyrolysis of biomass. Syn-gas can be converted to synthetic gasoline, jet-fuel or diesel using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis of hydrocarbons or synthetic alcohols, such as ethanol, through different catalytic processes. These gas to liquids (GTL) technologies, previously utilizing coal or low-cost, remote natural gas as feedstock for liquid fuels production can be adapted for the conversion of bio-mass to liquids (BTL).

In order to reduce the cost of biomass transportation, the BTL process can be decoupled into two steps. In the first step, the biomass is converted to a liquid form via fast pyrolysis at distributed facilities close to the source of biomass. The liquefied biomass, commonly called as bio-oil, is then transported to a much larger central facility where it is gasified/reformed into synthesis gas at high pressure. The syn-gas is subsequently cleaned/upgraded and then converted into liquid fuels. The advantages of this two step process are lower cost of transporting biomass feedstock and significant reduction of power requirement for producing high-pressure synthesis gas. In addition, compared to its biomass source, bio-oil contains significantly lower ash, sulfur and nitrogen compounds, which are poisonous for the GTL reaction catalysts. The synthesis gas cleaning step at the centralized facility can thus be made significantly less strenuous.

Several ongoing research activities on the BTL processes have provided CSET facilities with equipment and instrumentation necessary for demonstrating the production of liquid fuels from biomass through thermo-chemical and catalytic processes. The new bench-scale high pressure GTL reaction system is capable of converting syn-gas to liquid fuels using fixed-bed reaction mode or slurry-type reaction mode. Analysis of the synthesis gas composition is carried out using a Varian micro-GC and the liquid products composition using a Varian 3800 GC /Saturn 2200 MS.

The Co-Zr/Al2O3 catalysts that are used in Fisher-Tropsch synthesis have been successfully prepared in CSET and tested on a higher pressure slurry reactor (Figure 1). The relationships between reaction conditions and hydrocarbon product distributions have been thoroughly studied. Using Rhodium nanoparticles supported on mesoporous materials as catalysts, syn-gas can be selectively transformed to alcohol, preferably ethanol, in a high pressure fixed bed reactor (Figure 2) at a temperature ranging from 240-260˚C. These projects are providing great opportunity to develop technologies that are crucial in transforming biomass to biofuels and value added chemicals.



Rentech's Synthetic Jet Fuel Certified for Commercial Aviation
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 2009-- Rentech, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: RTK) announced today that ASTM International’s full governance committee has unanimously approved modifying the specifications for commercial aviation jet fuel to include up to a 50/50 blend of synthetic Fischer-Tropsch jet fuel. The jet fuel certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for use in commercial aircraft relies on ASTM’s specifications. Rentech’s jet fuel, RenJet®, qualifies under the approved specifications of synthetic jet fuel.

With the ASTM specifications, fuel derived using the Fischer-Tropsch process, including RenJet® produced from renewable or fossil feedstocks, is the first and currently only alternative jet fuel certified for use by the FAA. Rentech currently produces jet fuel at its Product Demonstration Unit that, when blended with petroleum-derived fuel, meets the ASTM International specifications. RenJet® is biodegradable, clean burning and virtually free of particulates, sulfur and aromatics.

D. Hunt Ramsbottom, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rentech, stated, “ASTM’s approval of synthetic jet fuel for use in commercial aviation marks the achievement of a significant milestone for Rentech, the commercial aviation industry and the country.” Mr. Ramsbottom continued, “Rentech is one of the few companies that has the technology to produce and supply these fuels to the commercial aviation market and the U.S. Air Force, which has already certified the use of synthetic fuels in most of its aircraft.”

Fuels Team Plans Super Hornet Biofuels Flight Test

Patuxent River, Md: The Naval Air Systems Command fuels team is gearing up for biofuels flight tests in an F/A-18 Super Hornet at Patuxent River, Md., by next spring or summer, according to NAVAIR’s fuel expert.
Rick Kamin, Navy fuels lead, explained that before “biofueling” the plane, the team will first conduct laboratory and rig tests at Pax River, followed by static engine tests with the Super Hornet’s F414 engine on a test stand at the Lynn, Mass., facility of manufacturer General Electric. The static tests will take place “probably in the December-January time frame,” Kamin said.
The NAVAIR fuels team is also getting ready to kick off a similar effort to test and certify biofuels for use on ships.
The upcoming tests are part of a larger effort to test and certify promising biofuels in support of the Navy’s energy strategy to enhance energy security and environmental stewardship, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our major goal is a drop-in replacement” for the Navy’s petroleum-based fuels, Kamin said. “The field won’t know the difference.”
Fuels derived from plants are considered carbon neutral. Burning them doesn’t increase the net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because the carbon they contain was originally absorbed from the air as the plants grew.
NAVAIR has asked for 40,000 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel from bio-based feedstocks in a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the Defense Energy Support Center. Initial laboratory analyses and rig testing will consume 1,500 gallons; the static engine tests, 16,500 gallons; and the flight tests, 22,000 gallons. The feedstocks targeted are not used for food.
Kamin said fuels received from the JP-5 RFP may include those made from oils produced by plants such as camelina, jatropha and algae.
“We won’t know for sure what we’re going to get until the procurement process is completed,” he said. The contract signing is expected to take place this month.
Camelina, also known as gold-of-pleasure or false flax, is in the same family as rapeseed, the source of canola oil. Often considered a weed, camelina is cultivated today for the high quality oil its seeds produce, both for human consumption and conversion to biodiesel.
Jatropha is a tough woody plant that can grow in arid conditions unsuitable for most food crops. Its seeds produce oil that’s unfit for human consumption but can be converted to fuel.
Algae can be grown in vats or ponds under controlled conditions that maximize output and harvesting efficiency. Algae’s oil is produced within individual cells.
Oils harvested from the plants are refined into fuel with conventional petroleum refinery processes.
Two commercial biofuels that will not be tested are ethanol, now blended with gasoline, and biodiesel. Ethanol is unsafe for shipboard use because it ignites too easily, and its lower energy content would significantly reduce aircraft range.
The biodiesel sold commercially today consists of oxygen-containing compounds called esters. Although they burn well, esters absorb water too readily to be suitable for the Navy’s maritime environment.
For the upcoming static and flight tests, the biofuels will be mixed in a 50-50 blend with conventional petroleum-derived jet fuel to provide the necessary specification properties. Biofuels are not as dense as conventional jet fuel, have less lubricating ability and contain no aromatic compounds, a group of chemical compounds able to penetrate the rubberlike materials that make up gaskets and seals.
“Aromatics are critical for seal swelling,” Kamin noted. “The easiest way to get these properties back in is with a blend with petroleum-based fuels.”
Kamin emphasized that the Navy will not be producing any biofuels itself. Fuel for all military services is purchased by the Defense Energy Support Center.
“We’re responsible for fuel specification requirements. Our main responsibility is to test and certify the alternative fuels for inclusion in our specifications,” he said.
The fuels team will initially apply three categories of standard tests to the fuels received in response to the RFP: analytical chemistry – using instruments such as a mass spectrometer to determine chemical composition and structure, “wet chemistry” – determining the fuels’ response in specific chemical reactions and rig test properties such as water separability, to determine how the fuels will react in aircraft and in conditions typical of Navy operating conditions, which include long-term storage.
“Storage stability is a unique military and Navy requirement not required in the commercial world,” Kamin noted.
“We’re trying to certify by families, to come up with a spec for an approved class of feedstocks, such as oil shale, petroleum, hydrotreated renewable or coal,” he said. The specifications of each family will be determined initially through the full battery of chemical analysis, physical properties, static engine tests and flight tests.
The Navy plans to have test and certification completed on the most promising alternative fuel candidates no later than 2013, Kamin said. As each candidate is approved for use, it will be added to the Navy’s JP-5 (aircraft) and F-76 (ship propulsion fuel) specifications. Once in the specification, the Defense Energy Support Center can buy the fuel to meet Navy requirements from the lowest-cost provider. Actual usage in the fleet will depend on industry production capability.








Can Be Used For Diesel or Jet Fuels - 90% Emission Reductions
BP pumps up the fact that production of biofuels via the fermentation of sugars offers to potential to produce fuels with greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 80-90% below traditional fossil fuels, can be use with a wide variety of biomass feedstocks, and has the ability to tailor the end product for a variety of diesel and jet fuel needs.


Dr. Alan H Epstein, VP, technology and environment at Pratt & Whitney: "We want to certify a biofuel by 2011 and we have an agreement to share results with GE and Boeing. Between us we make 98 per cent of the engine market and we genuinely are working as a team on this to get the engines certified for using biofuel. We think that is a realistic timescale."

The report claims that more should be done to promote the use of sustainable biomass feedstock to produce aviation fuel
Setting a target for 80% of jet fuel to be derived from or blended with sustainable biofuels could allow the European aviation sector to make a 60% reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a report published today (July 22) has claimed

In the study, entitled 'Green Skies Thinking', right wing think-tank Policy Exchange advocates the introduction of an EU Sustainable Bio-Jet Fuel Blending Mandate to be introduced by 2020, requiring a rising proportion of jet fuel to come from, or be blended with, sustainable bio-jet fuels.

And, the report claims that cultivating the feedstock required for the advanced biofuels which could be used in aviation would require significantly less land and be more sustainable than the first generation biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel which are used generally associated with road transport.

The report's key recommendations are:
- The introduction of a EU Sustainable Bio-Fuel Jet Mandate, starting from 20% of aviation fuel in Europe being sourced from or blended with bio-fuel in 2020 and rising to 80% in 2050. The report claims this could reduce EU aviation sector carbon emissions by 60% by 2050 and save the UK £37.41 billion between 2020 and 2050.
- Minimising the cost of supplying sustainable bio-jet fuels to ensure its production cost drops to around $80 a barrel by 2030, and $70 by 2050, which the report says compared well with the average jet fuel price between 2000 and 2008 of $62.29.
- An increase in UK support for companies conducting research and development (R&D) into producing sustainable biofuels; in particular increasing the current R&D tax credit regime to include companies researching bio-jet fuels. Along with further tax support for the sector, it claims the support would cost less than £5 million a year.
- Charging the Renewable Fuels Agency, which administrates the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, with the task of drawing up and enforcing standards to ensure bio-jet are produced sustainably and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Commenting on the report's recommendations, its author, head of the Policy Exchange's energy and environment unit Ben Caldecott, said: "If left unchecked emissions from aviation are set to account for up to a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050."

He added: "We do need to look at reducing demand for flights, but switching from standard jet fuel to sustainable bio-jet fuel is currently the only viable option to significantly reduce emissions from the flights that remain.

"Biofuels in aviation can also be delivered in sufficient quantities to meet global demand - unlike biofuels for road transport."

Feedstocks

Bio-jet fuels which are currently in use on a demonstration basis by airlines originate from biomass feedstocks including algae, as well as plants such as jatropha and camelina.

Processes including gasification and pyrolosis can be used to produce either bio-gas or bio-oil from the feedstock, and the report claims the international standards body ASTM is expected to certify planes to fly using 100% biomass-to-liquid bio-jet fuel as early as next year.

Q: What is IRENA?
A: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation focusing on renewable energies. IRENA concentrates on alternative energies in both industrialised and developing countries.

Q: What is the goal of IRENA?
A: The overarching goal of IRENA is a rapid transition towards the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy worldwide. In this regard, IRENA will increase the contribution of renewable energy to environmental and climate protection, economic growth, and social cohesion, including poverty alleviation and intergenerational equity.

Q: What are the tasks of IRENA?
A: The Agency shall promote the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, taking into account domestic priorities and benefits derived from a two-pronged approach to implement both renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. Therefore, the main tasks of IRENA include the provision of comprehensive advice for its members on selecting and adapting energy sources, technology and system configurations, business models, as well as organisational and regulatory frameworks. In addition, emphasis will be placed on helping countries make the best use of available funding. IRENA will also develop and maintain a comprehensive knowledge base, e.g. on potentials of renewable energies, frameworks and policies, investment mechanisms, technology, electricity grids, conservation, as well as storage and efficiency issues. This knowledge base will also serve other functions of IRENA. A further key task of IRENA is to enhance capacity building with regard to renewable energies. Moreover, the stimulation of research and cooperation with other organisations, institutions, and networks is of vital importance to IRENA.

Q: Who can become a member of IRENA?
A: In general, all States that are members of the United Nations can become members of IRENA. Regional intergovernmental economic integration organisations that are constituted by sovereign states, of which at least one is a member of IRENA and to which the Member States have transferred authority in at least one of the matters within the purview of IRENA, can also become members.

Q: Will IRENA cooperate with existing initiatives in the field of renewable energy?
A: There are several organisations or initiatives that share IRENA’s aim to promote the use of renewable energy. Among these organisations and initiatives are the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the World Bank, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). All of these organisations have different missions, foci, and operate in accordance individual mandates and/or on particular levels (local, regional, global). In the interest of all countries that are members of several organisations, and taking into account the challenge of massive and rapid escalation of renewable energy cooperation among actors in the field, it is important to speed up implementation processes and avoid unnecessary duplication of work. In order to establish close cooperation and build a foundation for trust-based relationships, the founding members of IRENA initiated contact in June 2008, and have since continued to meet and consult with other international players. Initial ambiguity gave way to clear support for the foundation of IRENA and the coordination of various synergy and cooperation opportunities. All relevant international organisations understand the mission of IRENA and are open to cooperation.

Q: Will IRENA become an UN Organisation?
A: Given the founders’ ambitious time goal for the founding of IRENA, it was not a realistic option for IRENA to become a new United Nations or United Nations-affiliated organisation. Thus, it was decided that IRENA should be created as an independent organisation and swiftly commence operations. In the long term however, integrating IRENA into the United Nations should be considered.

Q: How many states signed the Statute?
A: At present, IRENA has 136 Signatory States. A full list can be found here.

Q: My country did not sign in Bonn. Can it still become a member of IRENA?
A: Yes. At present the Statute remains open for signatures and all states and regional intergovernmental economic integration organisations can still become a founding member of IRENA by signing the Statute. After the Statute has entered into force, states and regional intergovernmental economic integration organisations will need to apply for membership. The Statute will enter into force 30 days after 25 ratifications have been deposited with the Depositary.

Q: What is the institutional design of IRENA?
A: IRENA will have an Assembly, which consists of all members and which is the Agency’s supreme organ. Furthermore, IRENA will have a Council, consisting of at least 11 but not more than 21 members elected by the Assembly. The Council is the consultative organ of IRENA. Moreover, the executive organ of IRENA will be the Secretariat. The Secretariat will consist of members of IRENA’s staff and will be headed by IRENA’s Director-General.
During the presently ongoing initiation phase, the Preparatory Commission for IRENA is the interim institutional body responsible for establishing IRENA.

Information regarding cooperation, contact, and vacancies

Q: How can my organisation contribute to IRENA?
A: All organisations can support IRENA. In particular, organisations can approach / provide a stimulus to governments to join IRENA, or actively promote the idea of IRENA in other ways. Also, organisations can suggest ideas and remarks for fields of cooperation to IRENA, thereby acting as catalysts for change in advocating for renewable energies worldwide.

Q: How can I contact IRENA?
A: During the current initial phase you can contact IRENA using the contact form on IRENA’s website.

Q: I want to work for IRENA. Where can I apply?
A: Thank you for your interest in working with IRENA. The Agency is in the process of being set up. Positions and internships will be posted as soon as they become available.

Detailed Roadmap for the Interim Phase

Q: What is the task of the Preparatory Commission?
A: The Preparatory Commission consists of IRENA’s signatory states and acts as the interim institutional body during the founding period. The tasks of the Preparatory Commission are to build up the organisation and fulfil IRENA’s tasks until the Statute enters into force. During its first meeting the Preparatory Commission established a committee to select the Interim Director-General and a committee to select the interim headquarters. These Committees consist of 5 members each and will support the Preparatory Commission to prepare the election of the Interim Director-General and interim headquarters at the second session of the Preparatory Commission in Egypt in June 2009. Furthermore, to assist the Commission in preparing its next session, an Administrative Committee was founded. This Committee undertakes the necessary steps for the preparation of the second session. Moreover, the Preparatory Commission will discuss and elaborate the initial work programme. With the election of the Interim Director-General and the interim headquarters in June, IRENA will establish its interim Secretariat, which will support the Preparatory Commission in its tasks.

Q: How will IRENA continue to develop?
A: The Founding Conference initiated the first phase of IRENA. This phase will conclude when 25 Signatory States have ratified the Statute. Given the magnitude and urgency of the tasks ahead, it is indispensable that IRENA receives the green light to commence fulfilling its tasks immediately. Effective work structures will be quickly established so as to begin operating. In June 2009, the Signatories of the Statute will decide on the Agency's interim headquarters and its Interim Director-General. The Interim Director-General will then begin to build up the Agency. Once IRENA’s Statute enters into force, the organs of IRENA (the Assembly, the Council and the Secretariat) will officially begin operating. At the first Assembly meeting, the Council will be elected and decisions regarding the work programme, headquarters, and Director-General will be made.

Headquarters and Director-General (DG)

Q: Where will IRENA´s headquarters be located?
A: The location of the headquarters has not yet been decided. During its first session, the Preparatory Commission initiated the process to determine the headquarters’ location. All Signatory States have until 30 April 2009 to submit offers to host IRENA’s interim headquarters. The Committee for the selection of the interim headquarters will collect the offers and support the Preparatory Commission in the selection process. At its second session in June 2009, the Preparatory Commission will elect IRENA’s interim headquarters.

Q: Who will be the Director-General (DG)?
A: The Director-General has not yet been determined. During its first session, the Preparatory Commission initiated the process to determine IRENA’s Director-General. All Signatory States can nominate candidates for the position of the Interim Director-General until 30 April 2009. The Committee for the selection of the Interim Director-General will collect the nominations and support the Preparatory Commission in the selection process. At its second session in June 2009, the Preparatory Commission will elect IRENA’s Interim Director-General.

Finance

Q: What is IRENA`s preliminary budget?
A: IRENA’s budget for the first financial year, upon entry into force of the Statute, is estimated at USD 25 Mio. This estimation is based on the presumption that IRENA will have approximately 120 staff members.

Q: What is the necessary contribution for members of the Agency and what resources are required for the interim phase?
A: The contribution level depends on the total budget and on IRENA’s scale of assessment, which is based on the UN scale of assessment.

For 2009, it is estimated that IRENA will need financial resources in the lower single-digit million USD range. The number of staff is expected to increase to 50 by the end of 2009. The main growth phase of IRENA’s structures and staff will occur during 2010. At that time, financial resources in the lower double-digit million USD range are anticipated.







A proposal to provide plant science and planting technology and services over a five year period has been agreed in principle by Bedford Biofuels and D1 Oils. Under the terms of the proposed agreement, unveiled today (17th July), D1 would license on a non-exclusive basis technology acquired through D1’s agronomy research and breeding programme to Bedford Biofuels. The agreement once entered into would also offer a framework for the sale of technology consulting services and Jatropha planting seed and seedlings. Intellectual property rights would remain in D1 ownership.

Excellent !!! We have clients on every country and continent. The ministers of Agriculture, Land, Development Policy, Water, Finance, Energy of every country in the subtropics where approval for the cultivation of Jatropha Curcas Linn has been established would facilitate the promotion and ultimate acceptance of this opportunity to deliver comprehensive successful commercialization of Jatropha Curcas Linn. With literally millions of Ha's of degraded, marginal, rain fed land locations to promote for economic utility.

Centers of Excellence for the development of Agricultural Extension of oil seed crops on marginal, degraded rain fed lands across the sub tropics and management of the value chains all the way to finished high value export and home use commodities.

The Trade Development Network of the UK Government would, no doubt, be delighted, (As in the past. NB The Thai administration and DTi paid for the work in Thailand in 2005 following a direct request from CKWR in August/September 2004 to promote the interests of D1 Oils Plc across its broad spectrum of national government FDI and LDI networks.

Such an opportunity to deliver first class "British" technology would not be sneezed at and the related CHP, Pyrolysis, Crushing, extraction/extrusion, bio plastics etc etc would lead to exceptional export opportunity for a good number of UK/EU companies. Rather a shame that D1 stopped its building of decentralised refinery products.

We should see D1's popularity on the AIM surge back to the +£5.00/share before the end of July. :-)


Commenting on the agreement, Ben Good, Chief Executive Officer of D1 Oils, said: "Generating revenue through the sale of plant science and planting technology and services to the growing number of new Jatropha projects worldwide is a key element of our strategy as we restructure the D1 business by merging our plant science and planting operations.

Brilliant!!! As the long term deliver of research, practical solutions and a business model for doing this KBC seeks to partner with D1 Oils Plc in order to facilitate correct land assessment, land allocation, primary and advanced plant species training, promotion of region specific as well as international research, the strategic agricultural extension of Jatropha Curcas Linn, manage the plant calendar, health, harvest performance, harvest the yields and establish the purchase, processing and products to market technologies that deliver least cost solutions for advanced liquid fuels, decentralised energy solutions at strategic locations in the sub tropical regions and a good range of value added products from primary manufacture; throughout the subtropical regions.

We are seeing increasing interest from third parties in paying for access to our technology and knowhow in plant breeding, agronomy research and meal processing for Jatropha. We are very pleased with this initiative with Bedford Biofuels and we anticipate further development of this area of our business as the Jatropha industry matures and commercial planting operations expand."

Yes we need this plant breeding, agronomy and processing out in the field ASAP. KBC has a client base that extends throughout the subtropical regions and the ability to reach out through associations globally in the shortest space of time. In fact this communication could move around the global Jatropha Curcas industry executive immediately. You could have feedback by the board room meeting of the 26th of July and a full book of eager clients ( Governments, Commercial operations and Individuals) willing to sign up by the month end. :-)

The contract in its final form has been agreed in principle, but will not be executed or have legal effect until the sale of BP International’s shares in D1-BP Fuel Crops Limited has been completed in accordance with the sale and purchase agreement announced earlier today. The BP sale will take place only following the passing of relevant resolutions at a D1 shareholders' meeting. Resolutions for this purpose are proposed at D1's forthcoming Annual General Meeting on 23 July 2009.

Perhaps BP are being premature. They do have an international network and relationship profile second to non around the world and exceptional access to development funding resources. They would be seen as the type of company able to process advance fuels and make delivery of operational technology platforms agreeable to all the advanced fuel users in the world. Especially the aviation industry. They are also involved with decentralised energy technologies and should value the opportunity to lend exceptional weight to delivering GHG emissions reductions. 500K + 600K in possible income from shares & oil with discounted share options don't seem to be that attractive when compared with the values associated with the D1 Oils IP sales.

Then again what would BP's executives know compared to Bedford Biofuels??? and the rest of us working to deliver the commercialization of Jatropha Curcas Linn.??? After all it is the IATA members, Rolls Royce, Pratt and Whitney, Boeing, Virgin, UOP/Honeywell and others who have tested JCL oil and proved that it could be processed and blended up to 50% with aviation fuel.

They are not that open about it but there is no major technical reasons why (given UOP's results) that Bio Jet Fuel from Jatropha Curcas Linn (and other V-Oils) could not be used at +95% for aircraft.



David McClure, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bedford Biofuels, commented as follows:

"We are immensely impressed with the work D1 has done and the headway it has made with Jatropha. The research and development D1 has produced is exactly in line with our business strategy to supply the growing world demand for non-food-crop biofuel. We couldn’t be more excited to have forged a relationship with D1, which we feel will be of tremendous mutual benefit to our business endeavors."

The Bedford Biofuels website is a bit short on strategy but hell we are sure they know what they are doing. Having sellected one of the most contentious land areas in Kenya for the development of Jatropha Curcas Linn the company must have some some serious supporting land development ideologies. Of course there is Zambia to consider and they have identified with long term experienced executives.



Subject: UPDATE 2-D1 Oils to buy BP's stake in jatropha JV - Un-fortunately the processes of corrupt malpractice continue to take a lead role. [Incident:090717-000049]



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Discussion Thread
Customer 17 07 2009 01:02 PM
IFAD's policies (along side those of the CLEAN CITIES (UN) hold the key to establishing optimal development opportunities for rain fed underutilised land regions that possess the required soil structure, location, community, infrastructure proximity and enterprise opportunity relationships for least cost delivery of decentralised sub tropical alternative energy (electricity) and advanced liquid biofuels derived from the cultivation of Jatropha Curcas Linn.



Un-fortunately the processes of corrupt malpractice continue to take a lead role.

http://www.d1plc.com/news.php?article=198

Unless Bedfordbiofuels owns the "so called" IP in this arrangement the deal is valueless to the company. Ergo, one might anticipate the sale of majority ownership.

Given that the D1 Oils Plc IP, if any exists, is owned by no more than three individuals one could think of a improved "least cost" arrangement.

http://www.bedfordbiofuels.com/

Currently having raised and expended shareholder interests in excess of £100 Million GBP the company is exiting its relationship with BP UK. At a described cost of £1.1 Million to D1 shareholders. A face saving exercise for BP. Those involved in the JV negotiations of 2007 may no longer be the recipients of an income from BP Plc.

Dear BBF;

Earlier this year, tracking the Kenya/Zambia interests expressed by Bedford Biofuels. My interest in the Kenya location was sparked because it is an area that I have reviewed and know well. The opportunity at the land identified requires to be addressed in a proactive manner because a direct purchase will not emerge as a desirable investment.

One would be inclined to inform any interested party that land ownership by international organizations in this region is historically fraught with deep rooted complications.(Check out the history of the Mau Mau). In fact, in order to achieve the development aims of Bedfordbiofuels it is not a requirement that they hold ownership, rather they deliver effective management that affords national community ownership, micro finance and, long term gainful interests for all parties. My evaluations of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC, Congo, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Malawi and Sierra Leone suggest strongly that there are few locations in Africa where direct land ownership by an external entity can be seen as a long term sustainable or desirable intervention, least of all when the science related to land selection or management is as weak as it has been these past several years in terms of Jatropha Curcas Linn.

SE Asia and India have also engaged with the release of land to FDI promotors however ownership rights, infrastructure and legal mechanisms are somewhat different from African opportunities. Never the less it is clear that there are major issues to attend to.

The renewed interest by states and investors to purchase or lease agricultural land deserves serious attention. There is plenty of information circulating in the media about such land deals, but there remains a lack of concrete evidence, data and statistics on the nature and extent of such deals. It is especially unclear whether contracts exist for those deals that have been confirmed by government officials. The lack of information about the investments, and the unavailability of contracts, makes any legal analysis difficult. Nevertheless, it is clear that some key and potentially disastrous legal consequences could arise during the life of such investments. It is imperative that both the investing and receiving states are aware of the legal implications, the possible impact on the local population in terms of access to land, water and food, and the consequences that could arise when national laws change or during times of national crisis. At the same time, both the decline of food and oil prices and a global recession that has shrunk investment flows, raise questions about whether the pace and enthusiasm of recent deals can be sustained.

There are enormous economic, social and political risks that are associated with foreign ownership of land and water rights. This was demonstrated most strikingly in the South Korea Daewoo-Madagascar deal, where civil opposition to a range of government policies, including sale of farmland, eventually contributed to the overthrow of the government. Nevertheless, the interest by governments and the private sector in land is unlikely to disappear. The search for land overseas will continue to be a structural feature of a world population that continues to grow and a planet that struggles to keep pace. The global food and energy crises that exploded in 2008 will not be the last, and governments are continuing to prepare for a more permanent state of high food prices and water scarcity.

From early in Y 2000 having engaged with the study of Tree Born Oil Seed crops. Jatropha Curcas Linn and a variety of others, I have know D1 Oils Ltd from 2003 and all of the areas of interest held by the company from this time.

Why so interested in this company?

The potentials for D1 Oils Plc have been astronomical. They remain astronomical.

One buys in if one seeks to aid and assist the processes of corrupt malpractice on a global scale. Given that +27% of the public ownership is in the hands of a late-come investor, currently suffering considerable losses, you can safely assume that 77% of the public ownership is in the hands of some very, very teed off investors. Some, not all, will know that they were duped by misleading declarations at each and every offering of an annual company report from 2004 to date.

D1 Oils Plc has had the opportunity to engage with the development of agricultural land and water rights that could lead to poverty reduction, the delivery of alternative decentralised energy solutions and advanced liquid bio fuels; while reducing GHG emissions. There has been opportunity since 2004 to establish comprehensive synergies with first class university departments and global research institutes in ways that could have established this companies credentials as a world leading UK Plc.

As it stands they have focused on deceit, deception and down right lies. Delivering next to nothing of value at each international location they have visited in the sub tropical regions. They have never secured a workable business model or developed the collaborative partnerships required for first class multi-national investor interventions. In fact, the executives of D1 Oils Plc have snubbed every single opportunity to rationalize the potentials inherent within the conceptual framework that formed up D1 Oils Plc, in favour of using this benchmark to execute the fraudulent raising of finance on the AIM.



Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: Daily Jatropha Curcas Biofuel News- http://www.localpower.org/


The global demand for jet fuel in 2009 is estimated to be 6.8 million barrels per day. The total amount of BioJet that could be produced from currently available 2nd generation biomass is estimated to be just over 100 million barrels per day. If additional sustainable grown biomass is produced on marginal agricultural land, thereby not interfering with food crops, then it is estimated that a further 40 million barrels of BioJet could be produced per day. Thus, not only can 2nd generation biofuels completely offset current jet fuel consumption, but could completely replace fossil fuel consumption at current demand if all of these resource streams are utilized. Today, the best-known and most widely produced biofuel is ethanol, deriving from sugar and starch. Current global production is approximately 1 million barrels per day, which represents approximately 1% of current fossil fuel consumption. However, it is clear that the 2nd generation feedstocks represent a widely available and untapped resource that should be exploited for biofuel production.

Any alternative fuel technology that can produce fuel at a cost of less than the jet kerosene price plus 19% by 2020 would be cost competitive. (see IATA document attached)

DECENTRALISED ENERGY:

The wider use of DE is a key solution to bringing about the cost-effective modernization and development of the world’s electricity systems.Existing decentralized energy (DE) technologies can reduce delivered energy costs and decrease emissions of CO2 as well as other harmful pollutants. Inefficient central power systems currently represent the majority of the world's existing installed electricity capacity and generation but there is growing evidence that the DE's market share is growing rapidly. Research by WADE estimates that in 2005 DE accounted for about 10% of installed capacity compared to 7% in 2001. Perhaps even more significant, almost 25% of electricity generated by new capacity added in 2005 was generated by DE installations.

WADE’s five key objectives and programmers
http://www.localpower.org/



To provide its Members and supporters with value added market intelligence, information and business opportunities;
To bring about effective power sector reform which eliminates barriers to DE and creates real market opportunity for DE;
To co-ordinate the creation and monetization of high quality carbon credits from DE projects;
To compile global data on all aspects of DE development;
To support the establishment of DE groups in every country.


JCL Cultivation: Sub-Tropical High Energy Plant Species grown on Marginal Land under Rain Fed Conditions. (?)

The key to feasibility is related to a comprehensive agriculture to industry model. Existing activities (D1 Oils PLC in particular) lack a clear evaluation of related and/or potential income generating value chains, non have not raised sufficient capital or logically applied capital to afford a least cost integration with national-international government/donor/development backed opportunity related agriculture and industry sectors:

(City-Town-Village) waste to energy (CHP) + agricultural output (Fertilizer)
(City-Town-Village) waste to agricultural output (Fertilizer + water)

Degraded & underutilized land enhancement.

National Agriculture to Energy Centres of Excellence- Management of relationships to Political Executive and Policy officers - Management of Agricultural Calendar - Development of plant species; Optimization of harvest potentials-production of primary seedling supplies + rooting bolus, plant species specific land (SOIL) evaluations, protection and extension servcies (Community and/or plantation) - growth support, plant species harvest maximization methodology (biomass and seed oil) - harvest collection methodology(s) - valuation and purchase mechanisms - transport to processing at:

Strategic location value adding BioRefinery Complex (s) with outputs products direct to local market or export for both direct use and further value adding processing:

Products:
biomass to energy (electricity + Heat) CHP.
biomass to energy (Pyrolosis-MixAlco-) to liquid fuels-Salts+Chemical reactions to Bio gasoline-diesel-Jet Fuel)
bio oil extraction to liquid fuels and lubricants (micro system UOP's renewable SPK from jatropha oil (?) not least cost! see attached pdf)
biomass to fertilizer
biomass to animal feedstocks
Biomass to valuable biochemical and pharmacy extracts
biomass to bioplastics
Plus Plus....Potentials from further Biochemistry.


The overarching sentiments promoting investments into the cultivation of JCL have been to obtain an ROI from adding utility to the existing stock of degraded/underutilised rain fed land in the sub-tropical regions, reduce poverty, substitute fossil fuel for renewable alternative fuel, profit from the exploiting of CDM/UNFCCC policies.

Requires ownership of:

+ Value Chain Management:-
Elite downstream - upstream CHP projects and PPA (Power purchase agreements)
Bio products from primary CHP activity.
Centres of Excellence, management applications with of JCL- General Agricultural-Land and Water IP (intellectual property).
Related Logistics, management and servcies platform
Advanced Biorefinery operations and outputs
Synergy with national development policy objectives Community & Commercial - Agriculture, Land, Finance, Investment, Energy, Aviation, Transport, Alternative Energy/Fuel, Regulatory and development/management policy executive(s).
Synergy with international development policy objectives, considerations, and internationals development finance support platforms. (WB. ADB. DFID. GTZ etc etc)


The KBC concept is to develop a complete regional template that attempts to embrace all of the above with the idea that this template can be replicated (rolled out) at high potential locations in the sub-tropics.


HOWEVER; an ability to establish commercial value stands of Jatropha Curcas Linn in subtropical degraded, "marginal" rain fed locations has not been demonstrated by any company established in the subtropical regions of Africa, South America, India, SE Asia or any island state. There is no known species transgenic, GM modified or improved TC breeding stock of Jatropha Curcas Linn.

Irrespective of the above.

Wild seed Jatropha Curcas Linn under optimized conditions can deliver + 5 Mt per Ha of seed oil from +60Mt/Ha of harvested Biomass. (6-8% oil on average).

Obtaining the above premium results in the field has proved to be elusive because in order to do so one has to ensure and manage the delivery of inputs in direct continual support of the primary operatives "FARMERS" be they employed or the self-employed owners of the land land resource.

IFAD's policies (along side the CLEAN CITIES (UN) hold the key to establishing optimal development opportunities for rain fed underutilised land regions that possess the required soil structure, location, community, infrastructure proximity and relationships for least cost delivery of alternative energy (electricity) and advanced liquid biofuels derived from the cultivation of Jatropha Curcas Linn.
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An ability to establish commercial value stands of Jatropha Curcas Linn in subtropical degraded, "marginal" rain fed locations has not been demonstrated by any company established in the subtropical regions of Africa, South America, India, SE Asia or any island state. There is no known species (transgenic, GM modified or improved TC breeding stock) of Jatropha Curcas Linn.

Irrespective of the above.

Wild seed Jatropha Curcas Linn under optimized conditions can deliver + 5 Mt per Ha of seed oil from + 60Mt/Ha of harvested Biomass. (6-8% oil on average) (These figures are extrapolated from demonstration plots and may have very insignificant relevance to large scale cultivations where 500-1000Kgs of Oil per cultivated Ha may be more in line with expectation, less if no management or good rain fed fortune is associated with a given harvest period).
IFAD's policies (along side those of the CLEAN CITIES (UN) hold the key to establishing optimal development opportunities for rain fed underutilised land regions that possess the required soil structure, location, community, infrastructure proximity and enterprise opportunity relationships for least cost delivery of decentralised sub tropical alternative energy (electricity) and advanced liquid biofuels derived from the cultivation of Jatropha Curcas Linn.

Unfortunately the processes of corrupt malpractice continue to take a lead role.

http://www.d1plc.com/news.php?article=198

Unless Bedfordbiofuels owns the "so called" IP in this arrangement the deal is valueless to the company. Ergo, one might anticipate the sale of majority ownership.

Given that the D1 Oils Plc IP, if any exists, is owned by no more than three individuals one could think of a improved "least cost" arrangement.

http://www.bedfordbiofuels.com/

Currently having raised and expended shareholder interests in excess of £100 Million GBP the company is exiting its relationship with BP UK, at a described cost of £1.1 Million to D1 shareholders. A face saving exercise for BP. Those involved in the JV negotiations of 2007 may no longer be the recipients of an income from BP Plc.

Earlier this year, tracking the Kenya/Zambia interests expressed by Bedford Biofuels. Interest in the Kenya location was sparked because it is an area that I have reviewed and know well. The opportunity at the land identified requires to be addressed in a proactive manner because a direct purchase will not emerge as a desirable investment.

One would be inclined to inform any interested party that land ownership by international organizations in this region is historically fraught with deep rooted complications.(Check out the history of the Mau Mau). In fact, in order to achieve the development aims of Bedfordbiofuels it is not a requirement that they hold ownership, rather they deliver effective management that affords national community ownership, micro finance and, long term gainful interests for all parties. My evaluations of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC, Congo, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Malawi and Sierra Leone suggest strongly that there are few locations in Africa where direct land ownership by an external entity can be seen as a long term sustainable or desirable intervention, least of all when the science related to land selection or management is as weak as it has been these past several years in terms of Jatropha Curcas Linn.

SE Asia and India have also engaged with the release of land to FDI promotors however ownership rights, infrastructure and legal mechanisms are somewhat different from African opportunities. Never the less it is clear that there are major issues to attend to.

The renewed interest by states and investors to purchase or lease agricultural land deserves serious attention. There is plenty of information circulating in the media about such land deals, but there remains a lack of concrete evidence, data and statistics on the nature and extent of such deals. It is especially unclear whether contracts exist for those deals that have been confirmed by government officials. The lack of information about the investments, and the unavailability of contracts, makes any legal analysis difficult. Nevertheless, it is clear that some key and potentially disastrous legal consequences could arise during the life of such investments. It is imperative that both the investing and receiving states are aware of the legal implications, the possible impact on the local population in terms of access to land, water and food, and the consequences that could arise when national laws change or during times of national crisis. At the same time, both the decline of food and oil prices and a global recession that has shrunk investment flows, raise questions about whether the pace and enthusiasm of recent deals can be sustained.

There are enormous economic, social and political risks that are associated with foreign ownership of land and water rights. This was demonstrated most strikingly in the South Korea Daewoo-Madagascar deal, where civil opposition to a range of government policies, including sale of farmland, eventually contributed to the overthrow of the government. Nevertheless, the interest by governments and the private sector in land is unlikely to disappear. The search for land overseas will continue to be a structural feature of a world population that continues to grow and a planet that struggles to keep pace. The global food and energy crises that exploded in 2008 will not be the last, and governments are continuing to prepare for a more permanent state of high food prices and water scarcity.

From early in Y 2000 having engaged with the study of Tree Born Oil Seed crops. Jatropha Curcas Linn and a variety of others, I have know D1 Oils Ltd from 2003 and all of the areas of interest held by the company from this time.

Why so interested in this company?

The potentials for D1 Oils Plc have been astronomical. They remain astronomical.

One buys in if one seeks to aid and assist the processes of corrupt malpractice on a global scale. Given that +27% of the public ownership is in the hands of a late-come investor, (Chairman since 2008) currently suffering considerable losses, you can safely assume that 77% of the public ownership is in the hands of some very, very teed off investors. Some, not all, will know that they were duped by misleading declarations at each and every offering of an annual company report from 2004 to date. This includes the BP executives.

D1 Oils Plc has had the opportunity to engage with the development of agricultural land and water rights that could lead to poverty reduction, the delivery of alternative decentralised energy solutions and advanced liquid bio fuels; while reducing GHG emissions. There has been opportunity since 2004 to establish comprehensive synergies with first class university departments and global research institutes in ways that could have established this companies credentials as a world leading UK Plc.

As it stands they have focused on deceit, deception and down right lies. Delivering next to nothing of value at each international location they have visited in the sub tropical regions. They have never secured a workable business model or developed the collaborative partnerships required for first class multi-national investor interventions. In fact, the executives of D1 Oils Plc have snubbed every single opportunity to rationalize the potentials inherent within the conceptual framework that formed up D1 Oils Plc, in favour of using this benchmark to execute the fraudulent raising of finance on the AIM.



Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: Daily Jatropha Curcas Biofuel News- http://www.localpower.org/


The global demand for jet fuel in 2009 is estimated to be 6.8 million barrels per day. The total amount of BioJet that could be produced from currently available 2nd generation biomass is estimated to be just over 100 million barrels per day. If additional sustainable grown biomass is produced on marginal agricultural land, thereby not interfering with food crops, then it is estimated that a further 40 million barrels of BioJet could be produced per day. Thus, not only can 2nd generation biofuels completely offset current jet fuel consumption, but could completely replace fossil fuel consumption at current demand if all of these resource streams are utilized. Today, the best-known and most widely produced biofuel is ethanol, deriving from sugar and starch. Current global production is approximately 1 million barrels per day, which represents approximately 1% of current fossil fuel consumption. However, it is clear that the 2nd generation feedstocks represent a widely available and untapped resource that should be exploited for biofuel production.

Any alternative fuel technology that can produce fuel at a cost of less than the jet kerosene price plus 19% by 2020 would be cost competitive. (see IATA document attached)

DECENTRALISED ENERGY:

The wider use of DE is a key solution to bringing about the cost-effective modernization and development of the world’s electricity systems.Existing decentralized energy (DE) technologies can reduce delivered energy costs and decrease emissions of CO2 as well as other harmful pollutants. Inefficient central power systems currently represent the majority of the world's existing installed electricity capacity and generation but there is growing evidence that the DE's market share is growing rapidly. Research by WADE estimates that in 2005 DE accounted for about 10% of installed capacity compared to 7% in 2001. Perhaps even more significant, almost 25% of electricity generated by new capacity added in 2005 was generated by DE installations.

WADE’s five key objectives and programmers
http://www.localpower.org/



To provide its Members and supporters with value added market intelligence, information and business opportunities;
To bring about effective power sector reform which eliminates barriers to DE and creates real market opportunity for DE;
To co-ordinate the creation and monetization of high quality carbon credits from DE projects;
To compile global data on all aspects of DE development;
To support the establishment of DE groups in every country.


JCL Cultivation: Sub-Tropical High Energy Plant Species grown on Marginal Land under Rain Fed Conditions. (?)

The key to feasibility is related to a comprehensive agriculture to industry model. Existing activities (D1 Oils PLC in particular) lack a clear evaluation of related and/or potential income generating value chains, non have not raised sufficient capital or logically applied capital to afford a least cost integration with national-international government/donor/development backed opportunity related agriculture and industry sectors:

(City-Town-Village) waste to energy (CHP) + agricultural output (Fertilizer)
(City-Town-Village) waste to agricultural output (Fertilizer + water)

Degraded & underutilized land enhancement.

National Agriculture to Energy Centres of Excellence- Management of relationships to Political Executive and Policy officers - Management of Agricultural Calendar - Development of plant species; Optimization of harvest potentials-production of primary seedling supplies + rooting bolus, plant species specific land (SOIL) evaluations, protection and extension servcies (Community and/or plantation) - growth support, plant species harvest maximization methodology (biomass and seed oil) - harvest collection methodology(s) - valuation and purchase mechanisms - transport to processing at:

Strategic location value adding BioRefinery Complex (s) with outputs products direct to local market or export for both direct use and further value adding processing:

Products:
biomass to energy (electricity + Heat) CHP.
biomass to energy (Pyrolosis-MixAlco-) to liquid fuels-Salts+Chemical reactions to Bio gasoline-diesel-Jet Fuel)
bio oil extraction to liquid fuels and lubricants (micro system UOP's renewable SPK from jatropha oil (?) not least cost! see attached pdf)
biomass to fertilizer
biomass to animal feedstocks
Biomass to valuable biochemical and pharmacy extracts
biomass to bioplastics
Plus Plus....Potentials from further Biochemistry.


The overarching sentiments promoting investments into the cultivation of JCL have been to obtain an ROI from adding utility to the existing stock of degraded/underutilised rain fed land in the sub-tropical regions, reduce poverty, substitute fossil fuel for renewable alternative fuel, profit from the exploiting of CDM/UNFCCC policies.

Requires ownership of:

+ Value Chain Management:-
Elite downstream - upstream CHP projects and PPA (Power purchase agreements)
Bio products from primary CHP activity.
Centres of Excellence, management applications with of JCL- General Agricultural-Land and Water IP (intellectual property).
Related Logistics, management and servcies platform
Advanced Biorefinery operations and outputs
Synergy with national development policy objectives Community & Commercial - Agriculture, Land, Finance, Investment, Energy, Aviation, Transport, Alternative Energy/Fuel, Regulatory and development/management policy executive(s).
Synergy with international development policy objectives, considerations, and internationals development finance support platforms. (WB. ADB. DFID. GTZ etc etc)


The KBC concept is to develop a complete regional template that attempts to embrace all of the above with the idea that this template can be replicated (rolled out) at high potential locations in the sub-tropics.


HOWEVER; an ability to establish commercial value stands of Jatropha Curcas Linn in subtropical degraded, "marginal" rain fed locations has not been demonstrated by any company established in the subtropical regions of Africa, South America, India, SE Asia or any island state. There is no known species (transgenic, GM modified or improved TC breeding stock) of Jatropha Curcas Linn.

Irrespective of the above.

Wild seed Jatropha Curcas Linn under optimized conditions can deliver + 5 Mt per Ha of seed oil from +60Mt/Ha of harvested Biomass. (6-8% oil on average).

Obtaining the above premium results in the field has proved to be elusive because in order to do so one has to ensure and manage the delivery of inputs in direct continual support of the primary operatives "FARMERS" be they employed or the self-employed owners of the land land resource.

IFAD's policies (along side the CLEAN CITIES (UN) hold the key to establishing optimal development opportunities for rain fed underutilised land regions that possess the required soil structure, location, community, infrastructure proximity and relationships for least cost delivery of alternative energy (electricity) and advanced liquid biofuels derived from the cultivation of Jatropha Curcas Linn.








Kilimanjaro Biofuels aims for power gen, jatropha in Tanzania

In Tanzania, Kilimanjaro Biofuels is developing a waste-to-energy combined heat and power project as well as a jatropha plantation and biorefinery. The company said that the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania and the Phitsanulok region in Thailand are among those ideally suited for jatropha curcus linn. The company said that it intends to develop jatropha for local use as well as sustainable aviation.


Jatropha can raise rural incomes - study
Monday, June 22, 2009
By Rudy A. Fernandez

MANILA, Philippines – Rural households can increase their income by growing jatropha.

Attesting to this is a study done by the University of the Philippines Los Baños-College of Forestry and Natural Resources (UPLB-CFNR).

Conducted by Dr. Nena Espiritu, Leni Garcia, Ma. Cynthia Casin, and Aresna Palacpac, the study was founded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

Dr. Espiritu presented the results of the two-year study at a workshop on biofuels organized for media practitioners by the UPLB-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

The workshop was supported by the Department of Energy, National Biofuel Board, Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp., Sugar Regulatory Administration, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, US Agency for International Development-Environment and Clean Air Project, and World Agroforestry Center.

Dr. Espiritu reported that the majority of the study’s respondents attested that jatropha could help meet household expenses.

In another way, jatropha can make idle or vacant lands productive.

Respondents in the study were 50 households, as well as municipal and barangay leaders, in 15 sites in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.


Preliminary results from an Air New Zealand test flight in December show that burning jatropha oil can cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60 percent compared to conventional fuel. But the world’s airlines use sixty billion gallons of jet fuel every year, and Petroleum Week estimates that producing that much fuel from jatropha would require planting 1.4 million square kilometers of it, an area twice the size of France.
But they were just calculating on ~3-5% of the Biomass developed by Jatropha the plant can deliver a lot more than this when processed using advanced biorefinery methods.


June 17, 2009 6:50 AM EDT
Fuels derived from sustainable biomass sources meet aviation requirements

LE BOURGET, France, June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) and a team from across the aviation industry today released high-level elements of a study that shows that sustainable biofuels analyzed in a series of pioneering test flights performed favorably in comparison to petroleum-based fuel.

According to the study, Evaluation of Bio-Derived Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (Bio-SPK), a series of laboratory, ground and flight tests conducted between 2006 and 2009 indicated the test fuels performed as well as or better than typical petroleum-based Jet A. The testing included several commercial airplane engine types using blends of up to 50 percent petroleum-based Jet A/Jet A-1 fuel and 50 percent sustainable biofuels.

In addition, the study showed the Bio-SPK fuel blends used in the test flight program met or exceeded all technical parameters for commercial jet aviation fuel. Those standards include freezing point, flash point, fuel density and viscosity, among others.

The tests revealed that using the Bio-SPK fuel blends had no adverse effects on the engines or their components. They also showed that the fuels have greater energy content by mass than typical petroleum-derived jet fuel - which potentially could lower fuel consumption per mile. Renewable jet fuels from bio-derived sources are being considered because of their ability to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

"These are very gratifying results," said Bill Glover, managing director of Environmental Strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Everyone on the team - and across the industry - is working hard to make sustainable biofuels a real solution for reducing the carbon footprint of aviation, and these results move us closer to that goal."

The report is endorsed by Boeing, fuel technology developer UOP, a Honeywell company; engine-makers GE Aviation, CFM International, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell and airlines Air New Zealand (ANZ), Continental Airlines (CAL), Japan Airlines (JAL) and Virgin Atlantic. Test flights involved an ANZ 747-400 powered by Rolls-Royce engines, a CAL 737-800 powered by CFM engines and a JAL 747-300 powered by Pratt & Whitney engines. In addition, GE conducted static testing at its Ohio facility. Virgin Atlantic proved the technical viability of biofuels at high altitude with its test flight in early 2008.

Each of the test flights used a different blend of biofuel sources: The Air New Zealand flight used fuel derived from jatropha; the Continental flight used a blend of jatropha and algae-based fuels; and the JAL flight used a blend of jatropha, algae and camelina-based fuels.

For next steps, Boeing, in cooperation with UOP and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, is preparing a comprehensive research report for submission to the ASTM International Aviation Fuel Committee later this year. The report will support efforts to gain approval to use Bio-SPK fuel at up to a 50 percent blend in support of industry goals to accelerate availability and use.

Aviation is working to improve the environmental performance of all aspects of flight and ground operations. In support of the industry's renewable fuel goals, Boeing and a group of leading airlines, environmental organizations and fuel technology leaders are helping to accelerate the development and commercialization of sustainable new aviation fuels derived from biomass sources. Through the Sustainable Aviation Fuel User Group, they are collectively working to drive sustainability practices into commercial aviation's future fuel supply chain.

Contacts:

Mike Tull

Boeing International Sales Communications

+1 206-304-7164

michael.j.tull@boeing.com

Terrance Scott

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Environmental Communications

+1 206-766-2949

Terrance.scott@boeing.com

SOURCE Boeing

THE EFFECT OF PACLOBUTRAZOL ON JATROPHA

PRELIMANARY SUMMARY | SUMMARY OF BENEFITS
The results of the study are remarkable at 30 days after application very little was expected to have changed. Jatropha however, is a prime candidate for AuStar due to its vigorous growth and low fruit yield. The significance of a strong result this early in the trial has confirmed the importance of AuStar in dealing with several key issues with modern Jatropha farming operations. Firstly, the increased yield in number and size of nuts will increase the profitability significantly.

It is hypothesized that crops will be at a reasonable harvest within 2 full years with non-GM crops. This is a great improvement on the 3-4 years that is currently the rule. The yield increase of crude oil is approx 60% with a range of between 80%-100% probable as timing and dosage issues are resolved. Application at the 6-12 month stage is probable to be the best time to start.

As with most crops an annual application just before the beginning of the fruiting period will give the best results. Secondly, increased oil content per fruit weight for weight increases of 3.52% are nothing short of remarkable. In fact the research team tested the sample twice just to make sure of the accuracy of the figures both tests coming within +/- .02%. Again this dramatically increases the profitability of the Jatropha operations.

AuStar does not in any way contaminate the oil no trace of the chemical will reach the fruit. Lastly, the amount of pruning necessary is greatly reduced growth over a 30 day period at this stage of the trees life is expected to be high. The growth experienced was minimal 2 to 3 inches rather than the expected 4 to 8. This will make picking a good deal easier and less costly also generating higher profits for the Jatropha farmer. It is envisaged that planting densities of 2x2m will be entirely possible and efficient being that Jatropha Curcas’s nature is rapid growth. Control over the fruiting cycle is also highly achievable.






Code Of Conduct Urged For Africa Farm Land Grabs


Date: 16-Jun-09
Country: SOUTH AFRICA
Author: Muchena Zigomo



A farm worker is seen at a farm in Eikeihof outside Johannesburg September 30, 2008.
Photo: Siphiwe Sibeko

In a bid to overcome reliance on food imports, countries in Asia and the Gulf have been at the forefront of farmland purchases in the world's poorest continent, where millions survive on subsistence farming.
But these so-called "land grabs" have drawn sharp criticism from land activists -- who raised concerns of exploitation -- as well as some international donor agencies, the African Union and the European Union.
Marilou Uy, sector director for the World Bank's Africa Financial and Private Sector Development Department, said African states would need to set up rules to govern farm land purchases to protect themselves from possible exploitation.
"It is quite apparent that the upsurge in interest, especially among foreign investors and large scale enterprises in land acquisition might need a code of conduct," she said.
"This code of conduct might need to bring a clear understanding on a wide range of matters from land policy, social development...governance and transparency."
Idit Miller, vice-president and managing director of the European Marketing Research Center, said a code of conduct would likely be the only way to ensure that the benefit from farmland deals was mutual for both governments and investors.
"It starts with the governments and once they say 'these are the conditions tied to our land' then foreign investors will have no choice but to pay attention," she told Reuters.
Lobby groups have urged more caution from governments selling farm land to foreigners, warning that some of the deals could lead to social unrest.
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, said last week governments needed to consult widely, especially with small farmers, before signing deals that may increase poverty.
International agencies report that since 2004 about $920 million has been spent to buy or lease nearly 2.5 million hectares (6.2 million acres) of farmland in five sub-Saharan African countries.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved


http://bioage.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/10/30/terrabon.png

http://www.terrabon.com/mixalco_overview.html
11 JUN 2009: REPORT
For Greening Aviation,
Are Biofuels The Right Stuff?
Biofuels – made from algae and non-food plants – are emerging as a potentially viable alternative to conventional jet fuels. Although big challenges remain, the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions could be major.
by david biello

Earlier this year, a Continental jet accelerated down the runway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Nothing out of the ordinary for Capt. Rich Jankowski, who countless times in his 38-year career had eased such two-engine Boeing 737-800s into the sky. Except on this experimental flight, one of the engines Jankowski relied on was burning fuel derived from microscopic algae to push the 45-ton aircraft into the air and keep it aloft — a first in aviation history.

Last year, Virgin Atlantic flew the first commercial jet on biofuels, a 40-minute jaunt between London and Amsterdam in which one engine burned a mix of 80 percent conventional jet fuel and 20 percent biofuel derived from coconuts and babassu nuts. Other test flights have followed, culminating in a 90-minute Japan Airlines flight with one engine burning a blend of biofuel from camelina — a weedy flower native to Europe — and regular jet fuel at the end of January.

As global economies strive to wean themselves off fossil fuels, one of the most daunting challenges is to find a replacement for the liquid fuels that power the world’s aircraft. Biofuels made from algae and non-food plants are now the leading contenders. While homes, cars, and offices can be powered by electricity produced from such renewable sources as solar, wind, and hydropower, there is little likelihood in the near future that battery power will be lifting a jumbo jet into the sky. And the global aviation industry uses an enormous amount of jet fuel — energy-dense kerosene — frequently referred to as Jet A or JP-8: The U.S. commercial airlines alone burn 240 million gallons of jet fuel every day, at a cost of roughly $720 million.

That’s a lot of greenhouse gases, released right where they can do the most damage — high in the atmosphere. The warming properties of jet fuel exhaust are intensified at high altitude, where nitrogen oxides from the The challenge is how to produce enough biofuel to supply even a fraction of the jet fuel burned every year by the world’s aircraft. jet’s turbines react with other molecules in the upper atmosphere to increase levels of ozone, which traps heat, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The water vapor that forms contrails and other chemically active gases emitted during flight also contributes to climate change. Although the amount of emissions from aircraft compared with other vehicles is relatively small — roughly 3 percent of total worldwide greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning — the mix of compounds in jet emissions and their release in the upper troposphere intensifies their heat-trapping power.

The environmental appeal of biofuels — especially if they are produced from algae or other non-food sources — is strong. Preliminary results from an Air New Zealand test flight in December show that burning biofuels — in this case jet fuel refined from jatropha oil — can cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60 percent compared to conventional fuel. And, as a bonus, about 1.4 metric tons of fuel could be saved on a 12-hour flight using a biofuel blend.

This month, the International Air Transport Association set a goal of achieving “carbon neutral growth” — meaning an increase in air travel would not emit any more CO2 than the present fleet and flight schedule — by 2020. The keys will be increasing fuel efficiency by 1.5 percent per year and using biofuel blends, according to IATA.

The overwhelming challenge is how to produce enough biofuel to supply even a fraction of the more than 60 billion gallons of jet fuel burned every year by the world’s aircraft. Relying heavily on biofuels made from food
Biofuels Digest
Camelina, a weedy flower native to Europe, is a promising biofuel source. One camelina-jet fuel blend reduces CO2 emissions more than 80 percent.
crops — such as soybeans, sugar cane, or canola — would not only affect food supplies and increase food prices, but would produce significant greenhouse gases during the planting and harvesting of these crops, as well as from forest clearing for more agricultural land. Non-food plant sources, such as jatropha and camelina, are promising, but difficult to produce in large quantities and can end up displacing food crops or lead to deforestation if the price of fuel rises high enough. Finally, making large amounts of jet fuel from algae represents a major hurdle, from perfecting the algae’s growth to extracting the oil cost-effectively.

Nevertheless, industry and government interest is driving research and testing into the development of biofuel-based jet fuels. Boeing has been conducting tests with various plant sources, including camelina. And the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Air Force are working on the development of alternative fuel sources to free the military from its reliance on fossil fuels.

The bulk of the initial bio-jet fuel for test flights has come from jatropha — a poisonous shrub native to Central America — and camelina. Both plants produce oil-rich seeds. Terasol Energy — a company based in the U.S., India, and Brazil and the supplier of the oil for the Continental flight — can squeeze 242 gallons of jatropha oil per acre of farmland in India and Tanzania.

But jatropha and camelina have their own issues, such as the inevitable competition between crops grown for food and crops grown for fuel. The answer to that conundrum might be the microscopic plants known as algae. The tiny plants are not typically a food crop, are capable of producing 60 percent of body weight as oil under the right conditions, and can be grown in salt or wastewater, says David Daggett, Boeing's technology leader for energy and emissions.

Algal oil can also be precisely tuned via genetic modification, or good old-fashioned breeding, to be the equivalent of crude oil. A host of companies, from San Diego-based Sapphire Energy to San Francisco-based Solazyme, are now experimenting with this potential fuel of the future.

Bio-jet fuels have delivered consistent high-quality results in ground tests and experimental flights. These fuels seem to have overcome the problems that their energy density might be too low (think ethanol versus gasoline) and that they could gel at the low temperatures found at high altitudes (think diesel on a cold day). “All the characteristics are here to make it a very high quality fuel,” says Billy Glover, managing director of environmental strategy at Boeing. “The fuels we’re testing now have equal or better energy content than the Jet A requirements.”

Tim Zenk, vice president of corporate affairs at Sapphire Energy, said the company hopes to produce 300 barrels of oil from algae grown in brackish ponds at its test facility in New Mexico by 2011. In five years, the output should reach 10,000 barrels a day, costing between $60 and $80 dollars per barrel, he says, compared to more than $300 per barrel today for the algae industry as a whole.

Chemical engineers at the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center have also successfully turned oil from canola, coconuts and soybeans into jet fuel that rivals the conventional We believe we have a path for achieving biofuel approvals at a 50 percent blend level over the next two years.” liquid, U.S. government tests show. And facilities to refine such algal oil are already being built. UOP — a refinery business of Honeywell that processed the biofuels used in the Continental test flight — opened the first “ecofining” facility in Livorno, Italy, last year, with a capacity to eventually produce 100 million gallons of diesel fuel for ground vehicles. A Portuguese company, working with UOP, is building a second “ecofining” facility in Sines, Portugal.

“Going to biofuels doesn’t mean we have to make compromises,” says chemist Jennifer Holmgren, general manager of the renewable energy and chemicals business for UOP. “We are already making fuels that look exactly like the real thing, or better. The real limitation is going to be feedstock.”

Industry and the U.S. government are working on a solution to that problem, through a partnership dubbed the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI). As part of that group, the Federal Aviation Administration’s chief scientific and technical advisor, Lourdes Maurice, testified at a Congressional hearing in March that “we believe we have a path for achieving biofuel approvals at a 50 percent blend level over the next two years.”

She also argued that bio-jet fuels represent a unique opportunity within the transportation sector, because air travel relies completely on energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons distributed to a small number of locations. Supplying biofuel to just 35 major airports in the U.S. would cover 80 percent of all jet fuel use in this country, Maurice said.

Any of today’s biofuels produced in quantity would still have to be blended with jet fuel because they lack aromatics — the hydrocarbon rings common in petroleum-based jet fuel that interact with seals in engines, helping swell them shut. “We fully expect that the first fuels will be 50–50 blends or less,” Boeing’s Glover says.

But even such a blend would deliver significant climate benefits. According to Glover, camelina is a particularly promising biofuel source, with one camelina-jet fuel blend reducing carbon emissions by more than 80 percent. Such a blend would also not require any modifications to existing aircraft engines or infrastructure.

That was certainly the case for the FAA’s experimental flight of the Continental 737-800. Engine shutdowns at altitude did not phase the bio-jet fuel, nor did sudden accelerations and decelerations. By the time Jankowski brought the plane back down to Bush Intercontinental at 1:45 p.m., roughly two hours after takeoff, he had burned through some 3,600 pounds of the biofuel, slightly less than the 3,700 pounds of regular jet fuel in the other engine.

“The airplane performed perfectly,” he said at a press conference afterwards. “There were no problems. It was textbook.”

POSTED ON 11 JUN 2009 IN BUSINESS & INNOVATION ENERGY

Move in line with airline sector's green aims: halving carbon emissions by 2050

By VEN SREENIVASAN
IN KUALA LUMPUR

COMMERCIAL airliners could be powered by a mixture of bio-fuel and traditional jet kerosene within six years, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).


Alternatives could form as much as 10 per cent of the jet fuel mix by 2017.

- Paul Steele,
Iata director of aviation environment

Paul Steele, IATA director of aviation environment, said that testing is at an advanced stage, the results are positive - and alternative fuels could be in use as early as 2015.

'We could have commercial viability between 2015 and 2021. It is now a question of scalability and how quickly we get there,' he told journalists on the sidelines of IATA's 65th annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Most of the development work on alternative fuels has been done by non-traditional players such as Honeywell, he said. The big oil companies have shown little interest.

Bio-fuel is produced from renewable biological resources, primarily plant material. The advantages are that besides being non-fossil fuel, the plants that are harvested absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the environment.

Second-generation bio- fuel feedstock includes plants such as jatropha, camelina, algae and Halophytes - which grow in harsh non-arable environments where they do not compete with crops.

Several airlines - including Air New Zealand, Japan Airlines and Virgin Atlantic - have carried out successful tests with alternative fuels.

'There has been a huge interest in their development over the past 18 months, and by 2015 we may have something that makes a difference,' said Mr Steele.

Alternatives could form as much as 10 per cent of the jet fuel mix by 2017, he reckons.

Development work is progressing towards certification of the fuels, he said. 'We are looking at a 2011 timeline for certification.'

The rapid move towards bio-fuel is in line with Iata's aim to ensure that the industry is carbon neutral by 2020 and cut its carbon emissions by half by 2050. Other measures that Iata is counting on to achieve this are fleet renewal by airlines, enhanced technology and better air-traffic management.

The rush to cut carbon output comes amid a myriad of emission regimes being rolled out by various countries - particularly in the European Union - which could have a devastating impact on the already troubled aviation industry.

'We are facing a multiplicity of regulations. We need political joint thinking,' Mr Steele said. 'Aviation emissions are mobile and the industry should pay for them only once. There is a need to look at aviation as a sector - not a state-by-state approach.'

Still, with the race to develop alternative fuels, more fuel-efficient planes and better navigation in full swing, he reckons that the industry could slash its carbon emissions by 80 per cent if all these factors align. The carbon footprint of air transport is expected to shrink 7 per cent this year. Of this, five percentage points are due to the global recession and the rest, to efficiency gains.


http://ecoworldly.com/2009/06/08/jatropha-careful-science-uninformed-optimism-and-simplistic-implementation/


SG Biofuels discovers cold-tolerant jatropha; may open US for more cultivation
In California, SG Biofuels today announced that it has identified multiple strains of cold tolerant Jatropha capable of thriving in climates outside the crop’s traditional subtropical habitat.

The strains are included among thousands of variations of Jatropha curcas the firm has collected from a range of climates and geographies around the world as part of its Genetic Resource Center, the company’s collection of Jatropha genetic material and reputed to be the world’s largest.

The strains were collected from various sites in Central America at elevations ranging from 1,600 meters (5,200 feet) to over 1800 meters (about 6,000 feet), where the average daily low temperature between December and February are typically around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and nightly temperatures can fall well below freezing.

Utilizing the strains, the company is proceeding with a breeding program that is a precursor to the development of jatropha as an oil-producing crop in colder climates of the United States. The company is projecting yields of 200-300 gallons of jatropha oil per acre with effective site selection and cultivation processes, well below yields projected elsewhere in jatropha’s checkered history as a biofuels wonder crop.

Nevertheless, the yields are materially superior to the 60 gallons per acre achieved in the US with soybean oil, and SG Biofuels adds that jatropha has lower input costs compared to other biofuels feedstocks, making it both more economically and environmentally sustainable than some feedstocks used in the US.


Research has indicated that suboptimal compromises are often the result of fallacies such as the fixed sum error and the incompatibility error, leading to the misperception that the other side's interests are directly opposed. Mutually better outcomes can be found by careful investigation of both parties' interests

Bio-fuels made from a range of non-food plants could be powering commercial airliners as soon as next year, a Boeing executive says.

“We’ve proven the technical capability of biofuel as a drop-in replacement,” says Bill Glover, managing director of environmental strategy for Boeing’s Seattle-based Commercial Airplanes business unit. “It meets all jet fuel requirements and then some.”

Boeing says it’ll release a report next month experiments that it and four airlines have been running using oils derived from different plants, includling algae. After that, it’ll seek certification for using the plants as fuel stocks. From that point, it’s just a matter of growing and processing enough of them to make it viable

The results are promising. Air New Zeland last month said that its experiments with oils derived from seeds of the jatropha plant showed a slight improvement in fuel efficiency and a 65 percent drop in greenhouse gase emissions when the fuel was mixed 50-50 with standard kerosene-based jet fuel. The 1.2 percent fuel savings equals more than a ton of fuel for a 747 on a trans-Pacific flight.







VISION & EXECUTION
KBC’s goal is to establish a complete agriculture-to-industry business model that can be replicated throughout Africa, SE Asia, India and other suitable locations, controlling the regional JCL plant promotion, harvest yield, & supply chains from the professional scientific and technical management of primary resources through to processed market commodity deliverables. (Multiple subtropical locations).

Phase 1: Agricultural Extension from the establishment of Centres of Excellence CoE
Phase 2: The construction of fully-integrated manufacturing facilities in the Special
Economic Development Zones close to or within suitable international airports.

Numerous scientific studies conducted throughout the sub tropical regions have illustrated the absolute need to introduce Jatropha Curcas Linn into the agricultural programs of least developed regions in a systematic well managed manner at locations that are conducive for the promotion of successful sustainable harvest yields in land areas that require rehabilitation and/or delivery into the agricultural land bank from previously underulitized status. Jatropha Curcas Linn requires to be cultivated with regard to soil condition and the ability to improve and manage the land productively in ways that enhance both food and fuel security while supporting the ongoing efforts to promote the sanitation of urban municipalities. The plant species requires to be optimised by professional scientific personnel for on going research, training and assurance of continued farming community support. The value chain for Jatropha Curcas Linn has to be managed and maintained as a valuable contribution socio-economic and environmental well being.

The harvest yield from Jatropha Curcas Linn can be available for processing to manufacture a good number of first quality products that have global as well as immediate cultivation area demand. Bio Jet Fuel has been targeted by KBC as a lead "to market" product on the basis that it is of vital importance that this non-food seed oil is used for a purpose that maximises the opportunity to reduce GHG emissions for an industry that has few bio fuel options.

biofuel's properties offer some performance improvements over Jet A1 due to its higher net heat of combustion including:
Using this biofuel blend, the fuel burn for a Boeing 747-400 aircraft twelve hour flight (5800 nautical miles) would improve by 1.2 %, saving 1.43 tonnes of fuel. Such a reduction in fuel burn would result in a significant reduction in carbon emissions, saving approximately 4.5 tonnes of CO2.

At shorter ranges, fuel burn will improve by 1% when using a mix of 50%
biofuel to 50 % Jet A1. Overall savings due to these hydrotreated bio-derived
jet fuels from naturally occurring oils is estimated to be a 60-65% reduction
in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to petroleum-derived jet fuel.

For each tonne of Bio Jet Fuel produced from Jatropha Curcas up to a further three tonnes of Bio Mass is produced as seed cake. This seed cake is protein rich and available as a detoxified product as first class animal feed. Furthermore; following the extraction of feed the residual bio mass can be available for fertilizer, fermentation to produce pesticide, and a number of potentially valuable extractions. Alternatively the bio mass can be used to drive CHP units providing standby and grid electricity and further research may result in gaining extractions for the manufacture of high grade bio plastics.

Considering Bio Jet Fuel as a lead to market product deliverers the income opportunity to consider turnkey Bio Refinery facilities that can add immense value to multiple agricultural waste or currently low value items for the manufacture of food and fuel promotion from new market interventions.

Over the past several years the drive from investors has been to seek out huge expanses of land for the cultivation of Jatropha Curcas Linn. Frequently this has been without due regard for the plain fact that the cultivation of Jatropha Curcas is people centric. Working through a Centre of Excellence it is right to hold the vision that the primary investors in land development can be indigenous populations of people supported by micro finance and or grant and finance for their own land areas as and where planting Jatropha Curcas is considered appropriate. This is of immense benefit for community as well as corporate investors.

My interest in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania actually extends back to the early 1980's. It is an ideal location for considering a complete Agriculture to Industry process for the delivery of Bio Jet Fuel as a "drop in fuel" solution to the Aviation industry. The characteristics of land, location and climate, alongside community content, current state of urban development, linkages with international air transport; produce a synergy of details that allow for the consideration to promote quality agricultural opportunity in support of delivering a bio fuel that can be exported direct to a client at least cost.

Jatropha Curcas Linn's agricultural opportunity is being erroded by many companies jumping into planting the species while believing that this tree can produce high yields of oil seeds when established on marginal or degraded land areas, with no nutirient support and/or little water. The species certainly does have wonderful characteristics. When optimised, within a controlled environment, the claims for up to 5Mt of Oil per Ha can actually be arrived at, even exceeded.

All the fuel we use world wide is delivered to us on a "least cost" basis. Governments apply tax in order to establish thier share of revenue from commecial activity so we live with the illusion that fuel is really very expensive. Liquid bio fuels, by comparison with liquid fossil fuels, are substantantially more expensive to bring to market. The more so if we try move them, semi-finished, to export locations far distant from the regions of primary production.

Unlike most promotors of Jatropha Curcas Linn I have focused on the physical agricultural features that one may improve in order to increase yields. Certainly, sellecting plants that show strong desirable characteristics is a good primary approach; however (in my opinion) much more than trying to improve genetic or phynotypic characteristics in order to get improved yields there is a need to investigate improving physical characteristics. These tend not to be seen as least cost solutions but, cost benefit analysis when set aginst improved harvests, speed of improvement and/or ability to deploy improvements rapidly favours inovation focused on the management of physically limiting circumstances.

While I use the Kilimanjaro Region to illustrate a complete agriculture to industry template for the delivery of a Bio Jet Fuel as a drop in solution I have also investigated sub-tropical regions across Africa, Asia, India, South and Southern America as well as some island states for similar opportunity.

Frequently we have been assessing areas of land that have been degraded or simply not brought into agricultural productivity because they are remote, semi-arid, poor quality soils or sands. Some times, and this is the low hanging fruit, we are able to appraise large land areas that have many commercially desirable characteristics (in terms of being available for Jatropha) proximity to community, urban connurbations and services, sub tropical sunlight conditions, nutrient availability and much more. However; in all circumstances, the most limiting of physical characteristics is water; rather than the genetic or phynotypic characteristic of the plant species.

For quite some time my view of conducting relentless research into delivering an improved seed that would lead to establishing Jatropha stands that were either better adapted to various limitations or, in improved circumstances, likely to deliver more seeds with higher oil content has been rather jaundiced; and will remain so.

By attending to physical limitations adopting tree management activities, introducing complimentary organisms to the seed coat - hence root systems, promoting improved pollination to fruit setting and protecting Jatropha Curcas trees from decease, excess wind impacts (heavy rains also imact negatively on harvest yields if this occurs at a critical time) while ensuring that there is a delivery of organic fertilizer; we discover that Jatropha Curcas yield potentials can exceed those of Palm. Under ideal, optimized, conditions Jatropha Curcas Linn will mature at by four years and from the fith year will produce high yields of oil seed.

The problem is that many seek to establish community or commercial plantations at "least cost" from planting out in semi-arid underutlised and/or degraded land areas, using the minimum amount of inputs; mechanical, physical or natural. This method would be least cost if there was a level of positive return. In fact it is "most cost" because there is zero return having expened considerable resources.

The promotion of Jatropha Curcas Linn for the generation of bio fuels or commodities requires investment and the participation of poor people who happen to have access or be available to work on poor quality land in the sub tropics where Jatropha can thrive. One of the many glorifications of Jatropha Curcas Linn is that active participation by the rural poor will deliver sustainable incomes that add values to rural livelihoods assisting with the long term reduction of poverty which can lead to improved quality of life for many.

The benefits of GHG emission reductions, decentralised supplies of Bio Jet Fuel, stand-by electrical power as well as animal feed and/or fertilizers at the top end of this project opportunity should mean that a "least cost" solution affords sustainable primary activity as the foundation that any up-stream technology depends upon.

This is why Centres of Excelence are required in all the regions where one would seek to grow Jatropha Curcas Linn and manage the yields up stream to a highly standards driven technology platform in order to successfully deliver first class quality products into a global industry.