Indian companies also enter biofuel business in Ghana

India’s biggest investment in the sector so far in Ghana, which is to the tune of US$45 million is by the Ghana subsidiary of the Indian company, Hazel Mercantile. The Mumbai-based company which is a distributor of chemicals and petrochemical products intends to cultivate jatropha to produce biofuel.

The reports quoting an official of the Ghana Investments Promotion Council (GIPC), Augustine Acheampong Otto, who is Director of Global and Regional Operations revealed that another Indian company has already secured land in the country for the same purpose, but he did not name the company.

He however, said the company has made an investment commitment of US$40 million to cultivate jatropha and process biofuel in Ghana.

According to Mr. Otoo, the Indian company which started talks with the GIPC last year, has already set up office in Ghana at the beginning of this year.

“They are asking for 50,000 hectares. That is not difficult for us, as an Israeli firm had asked for 100,000 hectares and we were able to secure it in four areas close to each other,” he said.

He added, “Netherlands has started with about 100 acres in the northern part of the country. The Chinese have started a pilot project. Germans and Israelis are also here, along with Belgium and Italy.”

The rising interest of foreign businesses in the alternative energy sector in Ghana, is not without some costs and social challenges to the country which is mainly an agriculture economy.

Agriculture employs about 60 per cent of the population in Ghana and contributes about 35% of GDP. The sector contributes about 40 to 50% of total foreign exchange earnings, but only about 16% of arable land is used for agriculture.

But the country imports almost everything it eats. The country produces only 21% of its rice and about 42% of its maize requirements.

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Labels: Jatropha-Company

posted by Sudha @ 11:56 PM 0 Comments

GM India inks agreement with CSMCRI for Jatropha production

General Motors India has pumped in nearly US$ 0.5 million to obtain biodiesel from Jatropha and test it on its vehicles at CSMCRI. During the first phase trials, GM manufactured vehicle were run over 25,000 kilometres on bio-diesel blended fuel and the content of bio-diesel as fuel ranged between 10-20 per cent during the testing phase. The company is also in the process of setting up phase II of the project, which involves a CSMCRI proposal to conduct experimental jatropha cultivation in small scale trial plantations on a wasteland in Gujarat for biodiesel application as CSR activity, reported PTI. Furthermore, the state govt has already been approached for obtaining 50-70 hectares of wasteland in Panchmahal to commence the Jatropha plantation project.

Jatropha oil is vegetable oil produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas, a plant that can grow in wastelands. Jatropha curcas grows almost anywhere, even on gravelly, sandy and saline soils. It can also thrive on the poorest stony soil and grow in the crevices of rocks.According to highly-placed sources, the government of India has set an indicative target for blending 20 per cent in petrol and non-edible oil from plants like Jatropha in diesel by 2017.

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Labels: Jatropha-Investment

posted by Sudha @ 11:38 PM 0 Comments

Jatropha Biodiesel Research in India

GM has entered into an agreement with India’s Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) to support the production of jatropha biodiesel.

Under this proposal, CSMCRI will conduct a research, produce and supply jatropha oil for two years, which in the form of biodiesel will be tested on GM vehicles, General Motor India Vice-President (corporate affairs) P Balendran told PTI.

“Under this agreement, the research institute will also be utilising two acres of land at GM India’s Talegaon plant at Maharashtra for Jatropha cultivation as part of the company’s resolve to explore environment friendly operational solutions,” Mr. Balendran said.

Phase II of the CSMCRI project will involve experimental jatropha cultivation in small scale trial plantations in Gujarat. GM Powertrain Europe is supplying a test fleet of six cars that are being run on various Jatropha biodiesel blends.

Although the jatropha biodiesel work is much smaller in scale that GM’s support for cellulosic ethanol, GM began its biodiesel support in India several years ago, said Alan Adler, GM’s Manager, Biofuels Communications.

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posted by Sudha @ 11:46 PM 0 Comments

Japan To Support Jatropha Production

THE Japanese government has signed a $73,948 with the Ohayo Ghana Foundation, an NGO, for the construction of a Jatropha oil press factory at Puriya in the Yendi District.

Part of the grant is also expected to be used for the purchase of a generator to power the factory’s machines as well as provide electricity to the over 360 inhabitants of the predominantly farming community.

Jatropha is a biofuel crop.

At the signing ceremony in Accra on Wednesday, the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Keiichi Katakami, commended the foundation, the chief and the people of Puriya for the initiative and said it had enormous potential to revolutionalise the production of energy in the country.

He encouraged the cultivation of Jatropha to lessen the over-dependence on crude oil and promote alternative, environmentally friendly sources of energy.

According to him, the grant would further boost the cultivation of Jatropha which and could possibly be used for the production of biodiesel to power various machines and equipment.

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posted by Sudha @ 11:19 PM 0 Comments

Bharat Renewables $438 milion, 10-refinery jatropha biodiesel project in India

In India, Bharat Renewable Energy announced that it will invest $438 million in a biodiesel project in Uttar Pradesh. Bharat Petroleum said it has set up a joint venture with Nandan Biomatrix and Shapoorji Pallonji that would construct 10 refineries and 200 jatropha oil extraction units in Kanpur, Jhansi, Laltpur, Chitrakoot and Sultanpur. The project would create a 270 Mgy of biodiesel capacity. The company also said it was investigating comparable projects in other states.

Source: Biofuels Digest

posted by Ecacofonix @ 5:42 AM 0 Comments

Jatropha The Next Big Biofuel

President Barack Obama's green-energy rhetoric is on the level, this should be the year the U.S. gets clued in to what much of the rest of the world is already betting: that jatropha, like other nonfood sources such as algae, will revive a biofuels movement battered of late by charges that it diverts too many crops from too many mouths. India has set aside 100 million acres for jatropha and expects the oil to account for 20% of its diesel consumption by 2011. Australia, China, Brazil and Kenya have also embraced it. In December, a Boeing 747 was successfully test-flown by Air New Zealand using a 50-50 blend of jatropha and aviation fuel.

"This is a superior biodiesel," says Roy Beckford, a University of Florida researcher and expert on sustainable farm development. He has been studying different varieties of jatropha and in February plans to publish his findings that trees like those the Daltons are growing (since 2006 they've planted 900,000 near Fort Myers) thrive so well in Florida that they may yield up to eight times as much oil as they do in places like India and Africa. That translates into as much as 1,600 gal. of diesel fuel per acre per year, vs. 200 gal. for stocks that grow in the wild.

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posted by Sudha @ 8:52 PM 0 Comments

Jatropha & Malaysia - an analysis

A good article on the prospects of jatropha, with a Malaysia focus. Also mentions that “jatro-preneurs” and “jatro-preneurs” could drop in at the JatrophaWorld 2009 convention to be held in Kuala Lumpur in the middle of February 2009...this is apparently one the highly attended jatropha gatherings in the world.

Interesting

posted by Ecacofonix @ 5:55 PM 0 Comments