"Optimising the Efficiency & Economics of Jatropha in a Sustainable Manner"
CMT's 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa offers insight on Best Agronomic Practices, Supply Chain Issues & Sustainability Criteria
Highlights of 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa:
- Practical Experience of jatropha growers in Africa
- Supplying Jatropha oil to EU - Policies & Logistics
- Utilisation in African Communities
- Harvesting Techniques - Mechanical & Manual
- Agronomic Practices - Soil Consideration/Rehabilitation, Irrigation, Fertilization, Pest & Disease Management, Pruning etc
- Fund Raising Options during credit crunch
- Application Technologies, including utilization of Pure Plant Oil, Biomass, Seedcake
- Supply Chain and Logistic Management
- Sustainability of jatropha and its Ecological effects
- R&D Advancements in Genetics, Planting Materials and Yields
CMT's JatrophaWorld is the leading platform for global jatropha community to interact and exchange ideas on accelerating the commercialization of jatropha for fuel and energy. JatrophaWorld is committed to rise above the hype and misinformation on jatropha and provide a true depiction of its potentials and the latest developments in jatropha growing and processing.
Part of the JatrophaWorld conference series which has benefitted over 1700 Jatropha stakeholders from over 100 countries, 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa covers jatropha development in Africa and its usage in local communities and for export to EU.
Currently, the economics of jatropha fuel is not yet competitive with petro fuels, some investors have even pulled out of their jatropha ventures. However, at 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa, you will hear from jatropha practitioners who are in serious pursuit of commercializing jatropha cultivation and oil production and has been making good progress. Come to 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa to hear about their progress and how they manage to stay afloat in spite of the challenging environment.
Still analyzing the complexities and paradoxes of jatropha as biofuel feedstock? Come to 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa to hear from jatropha growers who have combined acreage of over 10,000 hectares and growing experience of 5 years and above.
When the British transplanted wild South American rubber trees in Indonesia in the early 1900s, the yield was dismal. After 20 years of intensive research, rubber yields had increased by 400 percent. With sufficient R&D, jatropha remains a hopeful candidate for near-term fuel and energy production. As affirmed by a recent research conducted by Pike Research, Jatropha-based fuels will have a significant impact in 2014.
The long-term commitment of worldwide national governments to foster robust biofuels markets remains solid, and technological advances and economies of scale will dramatically improve the economics of biofuels versus petroleum.
Come to 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa to obtain realistic outlook and factual information. See you in Brussels!
Sign up for 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa at www.futureenergyevents.com/jatropha
2 Established Jatro-Entrepreneurs shared valuable pointers on continuing the Jatropha success story on 30 Sep...
Posted on : 07 Oct, 2009
Will Jatropha become another ‘DotCom Bubble’?
How can the Jatropha industry consolidate and strengthen for the long-term?
A *F*R*E*E Webinar on 30 Sep entitled 'Is the Jatropha sector becoming a DotCom Bubble?' offered a refreshing dose of realism on the Jatropha business. And if you missed the webinar, read on to find out how you can tune into the replay!
This must-listen session will provide insights on:
- Re-evaluating your view of the Jatropha value chain to build a more viable business model.
- Avoiding the mistakes of early, hype-based Jatropha projects.
- Adopting a sensible approach to Jatropha cultivation and the business.
- Tying Sustainable practices to long-term Jatropha success.
Get answers to vital issues & top concerns on Jatropha from the Experts...
Our 2 Guest Experts who shared at the Is the Jatropha sector becoming a DotCom Bubble?webinar:
JAMES SCRUBY-Director, Elsbett AG
James Scruby is a Director of Elsbett AG (www.Elsbett.com) a company that has been involved in Jatropha since 1986! Elsbett AG has launched a series of engines and oil production equipment that operates entirely on pure Jatropha oil. He is also CEO of Matrix Biofuels LLP and a Director at Viridesco Limited. Over the last decade, he has focused on renewable energy encompassing many of the different renewable technologies.
CHRISTOPHER HUNTER- Director, Viridesco Limited
Christopher Hunter is a Director, and Co-Founder of Viridesco Limited (www.viridesco.com), a Jatropha-oriented pure plant oil (PPO) biofuel company, with a 200 hectare, 4-year-old Jatropha project in Mozambique. Prior to co-founding Viridesco in late 2006, he worked in various finance roles, notably at Goldman Sachs as well as at a specialist environmental corporate finance advisory firm.
Listen to the 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa WEBINAR replay at NO COST...
Fill in the form below & hit Submit, to access the"Is the Jatropha sector becoming a DotCom Bubble?" webinar replay!
3 leading Jatropha researchers share proof that methodological errors & inadequate data was behind controversial Jatropha water footprint findings.
Posted on : 07 Sep, 2009
The controversial report by University of Twente (Gerbens-Leenes et al), which claimed that Jatropha has the highest water footprint among all the BioEnergy crops caused a stir in the jatropha sector, and now, rebuttals from the Jatropha research community is proving that the findings were wrong.
2nd JatrophaWorld Africa Speakers Prof. Bart Muys and Ir. Wouter Achten along with their colleague Wouter Maes from Belgium’s Katholieke Universiteit Leuven published a clear message to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) rebutting the controversial findings.
Here were some of the key flaws they highlighted in the Gerbens-Leenes et al findings:
- The data used by the authors (Gerbens-Leenes et al) were wrong.
Instead of using data of real water used by jatropha, they summed the total rainfall and irrigation: the actual water used will be only a fraction of this sum, particularly in regions with very intense rainfall events; this has caused a considerable overestimation of the water footprint.
- The other parameters necessary to calculate the water footprint of jatropha ( ffat, fdiesel, and HHVdiesel) were unfounded. The article they cited as reference did not match up to the figures they used.
- The authors only used data of very young Jatropha plantations. Jatropha is a woody species, and at the beginning of its life, Jatropha, like other woody species, invests mainly in non-reproductive tissues, such as stem and root biomass. Mature jatropha plants invest considerably less in non-reproductive tissue and more in reproductive tissues, hence the water footprint decreases with age. Therefore, ignoring the particularities of a woody species additionally overestimated the water footprint. For a correct calculation of water footprint, the entire life span should be taken into account.
- The authors used data of ONLY 5 jatropha plantations.
They also failed to check whether the agronomical practices in these plantations were adequate.
- A recent calculation of the water footprint in an Egyptian Jatropha plantation was only 16% of the Gerbens-Leenes estimate. Maes et al. gave a rough estimate, based on data on an Egyptian 1-year old plantation, and find that the water footprint under optimal irrigation was 65 m3/GJ, only 16% of the estimate of Gerbens-Leenes et al. However, it must be noted that the limited data currently available makes it is impossible for accurate caulculations of Jatropha’s WF.
Other world renowned Jatropha researchers have published similar rebuttals, rejecting the Gerbens-Leenes et al findings, including Raymond Jongschaap R.A.R. Blesgraaf, Thom Bogaard, E.N. van Loo and H.H.G. Savenije from University Wageningen and Delft.
>>Attend 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa<< to hear from Prof Bart Muys who will be speaking on the topic ‘First Worldwide Yield Model For Jatropha’ and Ir. Wouter Achten, who will be sharing on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Biodiesel Production!
2nd JatrophaWorld Africa Interviews - KEY Jatropha Stakeholders share on growing Jatropha in Africa.
Posted on : 10 Aug, 2009
The 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa interviews is where you can get the “inside story” on the Jatropha solution in Africa and around the world. We feature insights from leading Jatro-entrepreneurs as they share their perspectives on helming some of the Africa’s most sustainable and top performing Jatropha companies & projects.
EPISODE 1: Mr. Ruud Van Eck, C.E.O of Diligent Energy Systems BV opens up on growing Jatropha in Tanzania,
and the future of Jatropha!
We are thrilled to present insights from Mr. Ruud Van Eck, founder and CEO of Diligent Energy Systems BV, a pioneer in biofuel production from Jatropha in Tanzania since 2005.
During the interview, Mr. Van Eck opened up and shared some honest views on the status of Jatropha cultivation today, running a profitable Jatropha business in Tanzania, and adopting sustainable agricultural practices.
Mr. Van Eck remained positive about the outlook of jatropha as biofuel feedstock but pinpointed the challenges that Jatro-entrepreneurs will face in the next five years as, “Difficulty in Obtaining Financing”, “Offering Proof of Sustainability” and “The Land Ownership Dispute.
In the course of the session, Mr. Van Eck took a similar ‘no-holds-barred’ approach when he answered questions on:
- What lies ahead for the Jatropha industry?
- Why he chose Tanzania to grow Jatropha.
- Why he chose an out grower system over a mega plantation model.
- The challenges and rewards of working on Jatropha in Tanzania.
- Niche Buyers of Jatropha Oil in the market today.
- Benchmarking a price for Jatropha oil.
Mr. Van Eck also provided his view on the controversial report by the University of Twente, which claimed that Jatropha has the highest water footprint among all the BioEnergy crops. He verified the report with the professor in-charge directly and found that the sample size they used was small, and focused on projects located in high rainfall areas in Asia. Jatropha growing in low rainfall areas like Tanzania was not included in the study.
Mr. Van Eck shared his strong conviction, that in order for Jatropha to be sustainable, it should NOT be grown in places with high rainfall which can be used to grow food crops.
Subscribe to the 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa Interviews now to access the interview with Mr. Ruud Van Eck, “Sustainable Jatropha Cultivation in Tanzania” and for email updates on future episodes.
Just provide your first name and email address in the form below, and we’ll be in touch shortly on how you can access the recording for *F*R*E*E!
Jatropha in Africa - Growers, Researchers, Policy Makers & NGOs share perspectives at 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa!
Posted on : 21 Jul, 2009
Jatropha has been hailed as the feedstock for sustainable biodiesel production over food crops likesoy or rape. If managed right, Jatropha projects offer the chance to realize ‘triple-bottom line’ investments with social, environmental and economic returns.
The upcoming 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa conference zooms into optimizing the efficiencies and economics of Jatropha, and spotlight the rapidly growing Jatropha industry in Africa.
According to an article in Biofuels Innovator Jatropha has been cultivated in Africa several hundred years ago for the production of soap and as oil for lamps. The same article reports that in the 1980s to 1990s, development organizations recognized that Jatropha cultivation could provide a means for local communities to develop themselves, and the first commercial-scale projects were established aboutfive years ago.
Today, significant investments in cultivating Jatropha as an energy crop are taking place throughout in Africa according to GEXSI’s Global Jatropha Market Study, but growth in Jatropha projects is not uniform across the continent.
•In Northern Africa, the extreme arid climatic conditions have resulted in very few Jatropha projects situated in the region. However, several pilot projects irrigated with sewage water are being tested in Egypt.
• In Western Africa, Jatropha has been traditionally cultivated in Mali& Cape Verde, where villages have depended on Jatropha oilfor village energy supply. Large-scale Jatropha projects are being developed in Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.
•In East Africa, Tanzania and Ethiopia have the largest Jatropha cultivation projects. There is also emerging interest in growing Jatropha in Kenya and Uganda, with many small scale projects already established.
• Southern Africa (including Madagascar) is where Africa’s biggest commercial Jatropha cultivation projects are currently under development. The largest acreage under cultivation currently exists in Madagascar, Zambia and Mozambique.
2nd JatrophaWorld Africa, part of the world’s largest Jatropha conference series, meets in Brussels on 14-15 October 2009 to discuss important issues and tackle challenges that the industry is currently facing, including land competition, food versus fuel, water usage and many more. It also aims to convey the important message of Sustainable Jatropha Cultivation, and increase global interest in investing in Africa’s Jatropha sector.
Those keen on being a part of 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa asdelegates can submit their registrations >>HERE<<. Those keen on media partnerships, exhibition space and / or sponsorship packages can submit enquiries and proposals >>HERE<< or contact Ms. Lee Lin at +65 6346 9146 or email her at leelin@cmtsp.com.sg.
2nd JatrophaWorld Africa confirmed! 14-15 October 2009 in Brussels, Belgium. Sponsorship & Media Partner packages available.
Posted on : 29 May, 2009
Source: JatrophaDomains.com
The JatrophaWorld 2009 series of conferences are a new generation of Jatropha conferences with a greater degree of interactivity, and experience sharing on key issues pertaining to Jatropha cultivation around the world. In 2009, three separate legs will cover Jatropha cultivation in Asia, Africa and the Americas.
The dates and venue for the Africa-Focus event are now confirmed! 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa will convene on 14-15 October 2009 in Brussels, Belgium.
This year’s 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa will focus on “Optimizing the Efficiency and Economics of Jatropha”, and will feature:
- Case Studies of Commercial Jatropha projects on the African continent
- Experience sharing by foreign investors investing in Africa’s Jatropha sector
- Practical tips on jatropha cultivation: best agronomic practices, pruning, fertilization, pest & disease control etc.
- Latest advances in Planting Materials- High Yield Seeds & Elite Hybrids
- Managing manual harvesting and breakthroughs in mechanical harvesting.
- Latest conversion technologies for Jatropha oil & seedcake.
- Upcoming Commercial applications for Jatropha.
As delegates at the JatrophaWorld conferences, you and your team stand to benefit from the combined wisdom and experience of the JatrophaWorld panel, made up of speakers with hard core Jatropha cultivation experience, and expertise in financing, processing and logistics.
With unique opportunities to interact and confer with the most influential players in the global Jatropha sector, JatrophaWorld offers unparalleled opportunities for the growth of the Jatropha sector. Because while every conference touts networking benefits, at JatrophaWorld, networking translates to hard-core, measurable results.Over 1700 people from 90 countries have personally attested to this.
As Lim Chin Soon, CEO of Forest Hills and JatrophaWorld Alumnus summed up, “The networking session have been really, really fruitful. I would think we’ll be able to develop a number of relationships out of this meeting that could well go towards cementing business relationships. I would definitely recommend attending JatrophaWorld. If you really want to learn, to know, to meet up with people, and even the opportunity to strike deals, this is it. This is THE program for Jatropha.”
JatrophaWorld conferences present organizations with an AMAZING Opportunity to increase their visibility and standing at the world’s largest Jatropha gathering! Join us as event sponsors or media partners. Drop us an email at nisha@cmtsp.com.sg to discuss this option with us today!
In the mean time, do not forget to visit (insert link here) to confirm your team’s participation at 2nd JatrophaWorld Africa.
