JATROPHA GREEN OIL INVESTMENT PROGRAMME

Airbus Industrie is sure that biofuels, the ‘green’ hope of the aviation sector, will work in its planes and is looking forward to testing them, a senior official for the European airliner builder said on Thursday.

“If there is biofuel available we will do the flights, but we have absolutely no reason to believe there would be any problem,” Rainer Ohler, senior vice-president for public affairs and communications told a news conference.

Ohler said Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS, had successfully tested gas-to-liquid fuel for Qatar Airways two years ago. The resulting fuel was as effective as normal jet fuel or kerosene, but without the sulphur smell.

While this offered an alternative to jet fuel, it did not reduce carbon emissions which biofuels promised. Unlike oil, biofuels can be constantly replenished and harvested.

But the process for synthesising fuel from gas, known as the Fischer-Tropsch process, could equally be used on biofuels, Ohler said ahead of the trial flight to Geneva of Airbus’s new 850-passenger capacity A380 airliner.

Airbus is planning to test biofuels with JetBlue Airways. Its American rival Boeing with which Airbus is cooperating on fuel and environment research, has already made several test flights using biofuel.

Paul Steele, executive director of the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), an industry association for airlines, airports, planemakers and others in the aviation sector, said the biofuels targeted by the industry would be environmentally friendly.

They would not draw on food crops, require farmland or use excessive fresh water, in contrast to some crops used for producing motor fuel, he said.

The most promising crops are jatropha and camelina, but the industry also sees huge potential in producing biofuel from algae and plants that grow in salty water known as halophytes.

Ohler called on regulators to ensure that the aviation industry had priority access to biofuels, as other forms of alternative fuel, such as electricity, were not practical for planes.

Giovanni Bisignani, director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which groups 230 airlines, urged governments and oil companies to subsidise and invest in research in biofuel production. (Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Stephanie Nebehay)

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In China’s southern Hainan province, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has begun the first government-run project to produce biodiesel using jatropha feedstock.

CNOOC is China’s largest offshore oil and gas producer, and got the go ahead from Beijing in July 2008 to use jatropha in its plant.

The refinery can produce 60,000 tonnes of biodiesel every year. It is now expected that the use of jatropha to generate biodiesel will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by 140,000 tonnes every year.

In similar news, in the northern Shanxxi province of China, China Integrated Energy is constructing a biodiesel refinery.

Production is scheduled to commence in the Q3 2010, with 150,000 tonnes being generated every year.

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Jatropha should be regarded as a promising commercial crop as its market is assured by Bio Oil Nasional (Bionas).

Bionas group executive chairman Mohd Safi’e M Jaffri said Bionas had started to embark aggressively on the development of jatropha bio-fuel in the country following a successful test conducted by German company, Elsbert.

With the German technology, Bionas set up a processing factory in Peninsular Malaysia, which is an assurance of a market for the crop.

“In the beginning stage, we encourage people to take part in the planting of jatropha. In Sarawak we started with a jatropha planting scheme called Projek Ekonomi Rakyat Sarawak (PERS). “

Bionas is prepared to provide up to 80 per cent subsidy on seedlings to anyone interested, and free seedlings to poor farmers in rural areas. The subsidy was limited to 10 acres per farmer.

Farmers need not worry that the crop would be destroyed by animals or insects as its fruit is poisonous (inedible). It normally fruits six months after planting with a life span of up to 50 years.

Hence the plant gives high yield but requires minimal supervision.

“Roughly 10 acres of jatropha (8000 plants) can generate a monthly income of RM3,000. Each acre can yield up to 3.6 tonnes or 300 kilogrammes per month. At the current price of RM1.05 per kilogramme, farmers with 10 acres of jatropha plant can earn RM3,000 per month.”

Jatropha could be seen as a crop that could help in the eradication of rural poverty, he pointed out.

As the demand for jatropha is expected to rise, its price would also rise, he said. This year the price is expected to reach RM1,500 per tonne.

Apart from production of bio-diesel and bio-petrol for our country, jatropha can also be used to produce bio-conola for the European market.

Farmers should not doubt Bionas’ role in developing the industry as it has the best technology in the world when it comes to supplying quality seedlings. It produces seedlings with 47 per cent oil content, he said.

Bionas has appointed 200 nurseries in the state, each nursery to get ready 50 million seedlings to be supplied to those interested. To date 121,000 farmers in the state have registered to participate in PERS involving about 500,000 acres located all over the state.

Bionas also carried out similar programmes in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.

Meanwhile, about 60 farmers attended a briefing on the scheme by Zurina Amnan at a hotel here yesterday.

Similar briefings will be held in other places like Kuching, Selangau, Julau, Belaga Kapit and Bintulu in the next few days, he added.

Among those present were Bionas coordinator for Sarikei Division, Ling Pan Ming.

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The small village of Miririnyi village lies in the sun-baked province of Arusha in northern Tanzania.

The ancient crop jatropha grows wild here. It is extremely hardy and can survive in dry, barren soil – even though other plants cannot.

It used to be considered as bush with no commercial potential.

But the global search for clean energy has changed all that.

That is because the seeds can be harvested to make biofuel. It has meant that farmers are now taking to the crop with gusto.

Child’s play

Samson Nasary is one such farmer, and he is looking to jatropha as an important source of income.

He harvests the seed and takes it to a collection point where he meets an agent for a firm called Diligent Tanzania. The product is weighed and valued, then a deal is struck.

Mr Nasary says it was school children looking for extra pocket money who first led the way in raising awareness of the commercial potential.

“Initially, it was actually the kids who’d sell the seeds – and we really got interested and thought – why can’t we get the seeds and sell them,” he says.

“That’s why we’ve been collecting the seeds and selling them to Diligent.”

A few miles away from the farm, we come to a factory run by Diligent. The company doesn’t grow jatropha itself.

It buys seeds from farmers through its local agents.

Many uses

The heart of the operation is a hot, noisy, sticky place. The seeds are crushed, processed and turned into crude jatropha oil.

Once its been refined it can be used to power electric generators and cars.

Diligent run some of their vehicles on the stuff. Jatropha oil from this factory has even been used as fuel in a 747 making an experimental flight.

It can also be used to make other products like soap and candles. Researchers are looking into possible medical applications.

But here is the rub.

The government is facing complaints that food production is being threatened because so many farmers are focusing on jatropha rather than edible crops .

And that’s something a poor country like Tanzania can ill afford.

‘Green gold’

Faustina Manang works for Diligent. Her job is to liaise with the farmers and encourage efficient management of the crop.

The company is facing real pressure from the government to make sure jatropha does not squeeze out food production.

“The government is shouting about this because some of the farmers they plant only jatropha without food production,” she says.

“We try to tell them to to mix it with food production, like maize, like beans. They agree and they do that.”

The message does seem to be getting through, at least to some farmers.

Mr Nasary says he’s determined to continue growing food alongside his jatropha – and will only grow it where food cannot flourish.

But critics still question whether jatropha really can be the “green gold” its supporters claim.

Production is still small scale – most cultivation around the world is on plots of less than 12 acres.

Current production is certainly not enough to make a real dent in our demand for fossil fuels.

It can grow in poor conditions – but some scientists say that the amount of oil produced under such condition will also be poor.

So while the farmers of this small village continue to exploit this new source of income – the status of jatropha as wonder biofuel – remains uncertain.

Africa Business Report is a monthly programme on BBC World News. The next programme will be on Saturday, 12 December at 0230 GMT and 2230 GMT, and on Sunday, 13 December at 1330 GMT as well as 2130 GMT.

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Sugarcane central Brazil is now seeing a shake-up in feedstocks and the type of biofuels it produces.

BioVentures Brasil will receive $1 million from the InterAmerican Development Bank for a pilot project on about seven hectares in Bahia, northeastern Brazil, where it plans to develop a plantation on 20,000 hectares of mostly abandoned cattle-grazing land.

The pilot will determine whether the species can adapt to the area’s soil and climate, as well as other factors like how best to work with local communities.

BioVentures is backed by EuroVentures, a London- and Sao Paulo-based investment firm active in Brazilian energy projects, and Grupo Vigna Brasil, a Brazilian agribusiness consultancy.

BioVentures hopes to eventually raise about $150 million from investment firms that specialise in agribusiness, and from strategic investors in power production or fuel distribution and refining.

The company aims to sell the fuel to Brazilian and European firms, which would use the jatropha oil to generate electric power.

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