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Monday, January 5, 2009






Please visit our website!
www.projectjatropha.com

And post comments on our blog!!

37 comments:

  1. Hi Project Jatropha team,
    Great work guys. I am a mom of two kids 12 and 14 and both are home schooled. Can they join the project? Or is this a CPS generated project in which out siders can't join? If my kids can become the members, how do we do that?
    Good luck
    Vichy Andorra

    ReplyDelete
  2. Way to go Adarsha, apoorva and callie! Hats off to u guys. you are doing a terrific job at such young age. wish you all the very best and i hope Parivartana does really start a parivartana!

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  3. Hi guys, this is Mrs. Andorra again. I am still waiting for an answer from one of you guys. I know this blog stuff is new and as high school students, you have semester exams coming up. However, please answer my question when you can. I am waiting!
    Vichy Andorra

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  4. Hi Callie,
    This one is for ou. I am a sophomore from east coast. I see that two other officers in your projects are Indians. As we all know they are always great when it comes to science. But they do not involve other kids. I mean in my experience, they do like Indian or Asian organization. I am just curious. How did you become a part of this program? The readers would love to hear your perspective of this whole idea. They want to help their native country. What is in it for you? Are you planning on going to India? We would love to hear your perspective.
    Cheers,
    Lilian

    ReplyDelete
  5. First off-

    Apologies to Mrs. Andorra, for the delay in responding to your question. Though we're all from CPS, this is NOT a CPS generated project. The key (and only) thing we need help with is fundraising, as if you visit our website we have a budget breakdown. I suggest you contact Callie Roberts or Apoorva Rangan, as they are financial directors. That area is definitely where your kids could be of great use, as we need to raise quite a bit of money.

    Sincerely,
    Adarsha

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  6. Thanks Adarsha for your long awaited reply!
    I was thinking in terms of also getting involved in the project itself. Can you take other members to go and work in India with the self group farmers? Please let us know. Then we will contact your finance department. My kids can't wait to be in the project.
    Vichy Andorra

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  7. Hello Lilinan,

    I am very good friends with Adarsha and Apoorva. Also, I'm an environmental enthusiast. Furthermore, I truly care about fellow humans and love to help others. I think that our Project Jatropha is a collective effort to not only help others who are less-fortunate, but also conserve the world and protect it from global warming. I believe that together we can make a difference.

    Thanks for following,
    Callie

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  8. Dear Mrs. Vandorra,

    First off, sorry for getting back to you later than expected.

    On behalf of our team, I apologize, but we do not need any more staff members on our team. However, we appreciate your interest in our project.

    Sincerely,
    Adarsha

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  9. Hey Jatropha-Team,
    Good Luck and Godspeed with your project. Keep us posted with all the updates.
    Regards,
    Demeter

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  10. Hi Adarsha,

    I was expecting a positive reply from your financial advisers. I even wrote to them personally. No reply yet. Any way, if you change your mind please let me know. Your project has great potential. However, you need better guidance as you three are very young. I can help you guys make this non profit. You can't do that without an adult supervision. I reside in Fremont. So think about it. Good luck kiddos.
    Mrs. Andorra

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  11. Hi Project Jatropha Team,

    I think your project can win this competition. Recently Ryan, who is just 12 years old won it for providing clean water wells for villages. So, it is applicable to projects done outside U.S.A too.
    www.barronprize.org/
    Good Luck
    Lilian

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  12. HI PROJECT JATROPHA TEAM,
    there is an organization called randoMkids who do a lot of funD raising on behalf of various projects. they have a huge umbrella coverage for non profit work done by kids who are below 16.becoming members is very simple. log on to their web site and contact them. it is a very reliable place.contact them and they will help you with the non profit stuff.

    cheers
    LILIAN

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  13. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi

    apply for http://globalchallengeaward.org

    Lilian

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dr.G.K.Ramachandra
    Professor, Chemistry Department
    M.S.R.Institute Of Technology
    Mathikere, Bangalore 560054
    India
    Dear Apoorva and Aditya
    I have read with interest the activities of Parivarthana. I am impressed by your mature concepts, which are exceptional given your tender age. I would like to congratulate you on your commitment to energy conservation through bio fuels based on Jatropha! It is a well- researched proposal! I have some experience with Indian farmers. They listen with curiosity but have a rigid mindset and are not easily motivated. It is nice to see them turn around. Wishing that you achieve all you are hoping to in this project. Good luck!
    Dr.G.K.Ramachandra

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  16. Dr.Vellore A.R.Srinivasan
    Dept.of Biochemistry
    Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute
    Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (Deemed University)
    Pondicherry -607 402
    South India

    Dear Mr.Adarsha and Ms.Apoorva,
    Hats off to you both for your foresight,keen intellect,inherent capacity to expedite...and above all The God Almighty has bestowed upon you both, plenty of feelings towards the safety of the environment and determination to achieve something that would help alleviate the misery of the poor.Your understanding of the concepts of alternate fuels that are eco- and environmental friendly need special mention.Please do continue on the chosen journey and I am quite sure that your efforts would kindle the astute minds of many an avid friend of environment.
    Good luck!!!
    Dr.Vellore A.R.Srinivasan

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  17. Dear Dr.Vellore A.R.Srinivasan and Dr.G.K.Ramachandra,

    Thank you both for your input on our project. We're glad that scientists like you are noticing our project and taking the time to give us your opinions on it. It's very important to make the project as beneficial to the farmers as possible, so constructive criticism is much appreciated and will steer us in the right direction. Please keep visiting our website for updates.

    Sincerely,
    Adarsha

    ReplyDelete
  18. Energy Farming News


    Jatropha-fuelled plane touches down after successful test flight
    Alok Jha, green technology correspondent

    Tuesday 30 December 2008
    Article history

    Air New Zealand plane flown on second-generation biofuel
    The search for an environmentally friendly fuel for airplanes took a leap forward today with the world's first flight powered by a second-generation biofuel, derived from plants that do not compete with food crops. An Air New Zealand jumbo jet left Auckland just before midnight GMT with a 50-50 mix of jet fuel and oil from jatropha trees in one of its four engines. The two-hour test flight, which took the Boeing 747 over the Hauraki Gulf, showed that the jatropha biofuel was suitable for use in airplanes without the need for any modifications of the engines. It forms part of the airline's plan to source 10% of its fuel from sustainable sources by 2013.

    "At an emotional level, it was an exciting day today," said Air New Zealand's chief pilot, David Morgan, who was on the test flight. "We achieved everything we wanted to achieve and it as a significant milestone for the aviation industry, doing the very first jatropha-fuelled flight. We're thrilled."The flight was completed as the US airline Continental announced its own plans to test second-generation biofuels: next week it will fly a plane over the Gulf of Mexico with fuel derived from algae. Air travel contributes 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions, and is one of the fastest rising contributors to climate change, but the search for a greener alternative to kerosene jet fuel has been problematic. Airlines cannot use standard first-generation biofuels such as ethanol because these would freeze at high altitude. In addition, environmentalists argue that manufacturing biofuels can produce more emissions than they absorb when growing, and can also displace agricultural crops and push up the price of food.

    Air New Zealand's biofuel was made from jatropha nuts, which are up to 40% oil, harvested from trees grown on marginal land in India, Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. The fuel was pre-tested to show that it was suitable for airplanes, freezing at -47C and burning at 38C. The flight included a series of tests to assess how the biofuel-powered engine operated compared to the ones running on kerosene at different speeds and at different stages of a normal flight. "The flight was notable for the lack of any surprises – everything ran normally and as expected," said Morgan. "The fuel was indistinguishable from jet A1, a true drop-in fuel. You could not see a difference in the four engines."





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  19. [India eNews]
    Biofuel - a smart beginning in Gujarat

    At a time when there is growing global concern over greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, Gujarat's tryst with biofuel as an alternative to petrol and diesel has proved a promising starter.

    By V.N. Balakrishna. Gujarat, India, 20 Jul 2008 12:31 PM - (www.indiaenews.com)

    At a time when there is growing global concern over greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, Gujarat's tryst with biofuel as an alternative to petrol and diesel has proved a promising starter.

    It was the first state that started growing ratanjyot (jatropha curcus), from which biofuel could be produced. States like Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh followed suit.

    The state's tryst with biofuel began in 2005, when Dharmendra Parekh, owner of Aaditya Aromedic and amp; Bio-energies Pvt Ltd, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government in a small village of Tarsad in Navsari district.

    His biofuel unit, which was set up at a cost of Rs.45 million (a little over a million dollars), today produces 1,000 litres of oil per day and sells it at Rs.39 per litre.

    Parekh says he started his research back in 1992. It took nearly 12 years of research for Parekh to send his first biofuel oil tanker to the market.

    'Currently, 85 BPL (below poverty line) families are cultivating ratanjyot vanaspati in 2,000 hectares in south Gujarat alone,' Parekh told IANS.

    He has been using biofuel for his own vehicle that has given him 'excellent results'. Diesel gives 18 km per litre while biofuel gives 21 km per litre with least maintenance of the engine, he said.

    Use of biofuel saves foreign exchange needed for oil purchase. Regular diesel comes from a non-renewable source, while biofuel is a renewable energy and the Planning Commission has approved projects to boost biofuel production.

    The first ever research in this area was undertaken by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Top agricultural scientists in the world, including those from the Science and Technology Department of China, have conducted research on this plant.

    Biofuel production can also help India increase its leverage in the international alternative fuel market.

    Besides ratanjyot, there are other plants in India like pongamia, sal, mahua, kokum, pilu, phulwara, dhupa, neem, mango, kusum, karanja, jatropha, tumba, jojoba, simarouba, from which alternative fuel could be produced. All this has a potential of generating 20 million tonnes of biofuel annually.

    Wild crops cultivated in wastelands could also form a source of biofuel. According to the last economic survey of the central government, there are about 175 million hectares of wasteland in the country.

    It is expected that plantation in four million hectares in phases would employ 127.6 million people. Seed collection itself will provide sustainable employment to eight million people.

    The central government is also now pushing biofuel production as part of its strategy to reduce dependence on fossil fuel. Planning Commission member Kirit S. Parikh has recently recommended the use of ethanol-blended petrol and bio-diesel. However, it is still unclear whether the government would come up with a biofuel policy at the national level.

    (© IANS)

    Read more at: http://www.indiaenews.com/business/20080720/133194.htm

    © Copyright 2009 India eNews (www.indiaenews.com). All Rights Reserved.

    ReplyDelete
  20. 07/03/2009
    Leading the Sustainable Economy 29th June – 1st July 2009, Jakarta, Indonesia

    The biofuels industry is experiencing rapid growth both in production levels and new technologies. Governments around the world continue to show their support for increased use of biofuels, with recent initiatives coming from Australia, Japan and the world's fastest growing economy, China. Seeing the booming biofuels industry, Asia plays a vital role not only as biofuels feedstock provider & biofuels producers but also an increasing biofuels consuming market.



    As competition between food and fuel threatens to become a pressing constraint on the current biofuel industry, the biofuels world is starting the transition to next generation biofuels. Cellulosic ethanol, Jatropha, Algae, are the future solutions for this conflict. With more than 900,000 hectares, Asia has by far the largest acreage of Jatropha cultivation currently under management worldwide. The largest Jatropha plantations exist in India, Myanmar, China and Indonesia, with each country having more than 50,000 ha under cultivation today. The greatest projects are government initiated; they include pro-poor support schemes in India to rehabilitate waste lands, village programs in Lao and Myanmar as well as plantations developed by the largest national oil companies in China. It is expected that large investments will take place in the future; the total acreage will increase according to experts' estimates up to 9.2 million hectares in the next 7 years.



    Following the success of Green Power Conferences' hallmark event World Biofuels Market & other bio energy events worldwide, the Global Biofuels Series will now run the 4th Asian edition in 2009. This conference will provide an excellent platform to learn about the latest trends, regional and international developments in biofuels market. Ethanol fuels, biodiesel, next generation biofuels, and Jatropha are discussed respectively in 3 days. Green Power Conferences will bring together the key players involved in the entire value chain for Biofuels industry.



    This three day event will cover ethanol fuels, biodiesel and Jatropha respectively. Regulatory officials, industry experts, project developers etc. will gather together to discuss the unique opportunities & challenges of the region. Policies, R&D, plantation, refining & blending, downstream logistics & transport sector will be discussed in the event.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Mozambique: Great Potential Claimed for Biofuel Expansion

    Maputo — There is enormous potential for the expansion of biofuel production, and Africa is the continent that enjoys the best climatic conditions to grow the crops that can be turned into biofuels, declared Mozambican Energy Minister Salvador Namburete on Thursday.


    Speaking at the opening of a two day international conference on "Powering Africa: the Biofuels Options", organised by his ministry and the British company EnergyNet Ltd, Namburete pointed out that, of the 116.8 billion gigajoules of energy generated and consumed in the world in 2005, only 1.1 billion gigajoules came from biofuels, mostly in Brazil.


    "This is a clear demonstration that there is huge potential for the exploitation of these clean sources of energy", he said, "particularly at a time when the entire world is confronted with the phenomenon of global warming".


    For African countries such as Mozambique, he stressed, biofuels could be key to reducing the import bill for fossil fuels, and in the fight against poverty.


    Namburete favoured the development of biofuel production through public-private partnerships, where private companies would raise the funding, and manage the projects, while the government played a "facilitating role" in establishing "an enabling environment and regulatory framework".


    He stressed the importance of handling land allocation for biofuel production sensitively, avoiding any conflict between biofuels and food production, and preventing dependence on monocultures. He suggested that the most appropriate crops to use are sugar cane for bioethanol, and jatropha and copra for biodiesel. The advantage of the jatropha shrub, he argued, is that it can be grown on marginal land, and so does not compete with food crops.


    Namburete cited examples of recent short and long haul flights by airlines using a mixture of jet fuel and biofuels. These had been successful, and no modification to the aircraft engines was required.


    The paper circulated by Namburete to participants said that the government "has established a working group from all stakeholders to develop criteria for allocating land for food production and biofuels development. This is basically a mapping exercise aimed at defining the appropriate use of different types of land for food, feedstock for biofuels, reforestation, livestock and conservation zones, social and economic infrastructure development, special economic zones, residential areas, state reserves and other uses".


    Nuno de Oliveira, of the Mozambican state fuel company Petromoc, revealed that Petromoc's own biofuels project, known as Ecomoz, is now producing 80,000 litres of biofuels a day, using copra from the southern province of Inhambane as the raw material.


    It planned to expand production, and use 21,000 hectares in Manhica district, 80 kilometres north of Maputo, to produce jatropha and copra. Oliveira also pointed out that Mozambique has 36 million hectares of potentially arable land, of which only six per cent is currently being used.


    A representative of Bioenergy Africa, the London-based company which is investing in a 30,000 hectare sugar plantation at Massingir, in Gaza province, to produce ethanol, praised the Mozambican government's policy of issuing temporary land use titles to investors. This was a test of the "seriousness and integrity of investors", since only after they had proved their capacity and initiated their project would they be granted definitive land rights.


    Speaking to reporters, Namburete denied the frequent opposition claim that the government drive to persuade farmers to grow jatropha has failed. He pointed out that it takes four to five years of growth before attaining a yield of ten kilos of jatropha seeds per tree. Nonetheless, small amounts of jatropha have been purchased from farmers in several provinces.


    He admitted there could be cases of farmers in isolated areas who have been unable to sell jatropha - but repeated that in principle the government will ensure that all jatropha production is purchased.

    Relevant Links

    * Southern Africa
    * Economy, Business and Finance
    * Energy
    * Mozambique
    * Sustainable Development


    Namburete accepted that the international financial crisis might slow down investment in the Mozambican energy sector. All the projects on the drawing board - included new dams, power stations and refineries - would require investment of around 20 billion US dollars, and he certainly did not expect such sums to be forthcoming from one day to the next.


    But while investors in such projects as the new dam at Mphanda Nkuwa on the Zambezi, or the planned oil refinery at Nacala, might have to reschedule their spending, nobody had abandoned projects.


    "No investor has contacted us saying "we're going to pull out", he stressed.

    Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200903050909.html

    ReplyDelete
  22. 01/03/2009
    Initial framework for evaluating sustainable Jatropha production

    To download the full publication click here



    Preface

    The purpose of the paper is to provide a broad framework that could guide an initial analysis of the key relationship between Jatropha cultivations projects and sustainable criteria.

    According to the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB), "projects shall be designed and operated under appropriate, comprehensive, transparent, consultative and participatory process that involve all the relevant stakeholder". Jatrophabook's mission is to actively involve all Jatropha stakeholders in the creation of a sustainable biofuels market.

    What is required is an international certification scheme; the global attention to sustainable projects focused on poverty alleviation, fight against climate change, capillary diffusion of the Web as well as youth of the sector itself are offering us an unique opportunity: the possibility to involve all the actors of the supply chain into a transparent and suitable certification scheme.

    An international recognition system needs to include social, environmental and economic sustainability goals, in order to choose the appropriate trade-offs between local needs and environment requirements.

    Jatrophabook's plan is to create an open and transparent standard-setting process, involving a variety of stakeholder interests from all part of the supply chain and from different countries. Producers, workers, farmers, financial institutions, governments, NGOs and research centers must have the opportunities to interact into this process.

    In our first work we divided thematic areas in five main issues related to sustainable best practices:
    - Social Development;
    - Food Security;
    - Land Use Change;
    - Energy Balance;
    - GHG Emissions.


    List of abbreviations

    ESIA: Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
    EROI: Energy Return On Investment
    FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
    GBEP: Global Bioenergy Partnership
    GHG: Greenhouse Gas
    IIED: International institute for Environment and Development
    IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature
    NEB: Net Energy Balance
    EROI: Energy Return On Investment
    NGO: Non-governmental Organization
    RSB: Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels
    UN: United Nations


    Social development

    Jatropha cultivation can be very useful in bringing an agricultural renaissance for revitalising land use and livelihoods in rural areas.

    GBEP underlines the potential of bioenergy for rural development and especially the revitalization of agricultural sectors. It has been explained, that "Although it is still mainly unclear how resource poor farmers might participate in bioenergy schemes, biomass energy systems could contribute to maintaining employment and creating new jobs in rural areas, avoiding land abandonment and reducing in-country migration to cities". (GBEP; Bioenergy Development G8 +5 Countries; 2008)

    According to the FAO and IIED document "Fuelling Exclusion? The biofuels boom and poor people's access to land":
    "Biofuels production may offer income-generation opportunities in rural areas. By generating income, biofuel production may help improve prospects for food security - namely, by enabling farmers to purchase food on the market. It may also offer an opportunity for farmers - traditionally squeezed by low agricultural prices - to get better terms of trade".

    Jatropha cultivation for countries having abundant barren land and poor in other natural endowments may pursue new opportunities. Large-scale and small-scale biofuels production can co-exist and even work together in synergy to maximize positive outcomes for rural development; large-scale cultivation could also provide benefits in the form of employment, skills development and secondary industry.

    Following the RSB "biofuels productions shall contribute to the social and economic development of local, rural and indigenous peoples and communities... For new large-scale projects, an environmental and social impact assessment, strategy, and impact mitigation plan (ESIA) covering the full lifespan of the project shall arise through a consultative process to establish rights and obligations and ensure implementation of a long-term plan that results in sustainability for all partners and interested communities".
    The ESIA shall result in a baseline social assessment of existing social and economic conditions and a business plan that shall ensure sustainability, local economic development, equity for partners, and social and rural development through all the value chain.

    No country in modern times has substantially reduced poverty without a massive increase of energy use. For the world's poorest households, basic energy services for cooking and heating, lighting, communication, water pumping and food processing are particularly important. Shifting these basic energy uses from traditional bioenergy (often used in unsustainable and health-damaging forms) to modern fuels and electricity is probably one of the most important and long-lasting challenges.

    An heavy reliance on foreign energy sources means that countries have to spend a large proportion of their foreign currency reserves on oil imports. This is especially relevant for the poorest countries where any saving of foreign currency means increased resources available for other urgent development needs. (IIED; Biofuel production, trade and sustainable development: emerging issues; 2006)
    Furthermore, of the world's 50 poorest countries, 38 are net importers of petroleum and 25 import all their energy requirements. Increases in oil prices can have devastating effects on many of the world's poor countries, some of which now spend as much as six times as much on fuel as they do on health. (UN-Energy; Sustainable Bioenergy: A Framework for Decision Makers; 2007).

    Sustainable bioenergy is an opportunity to develop new export markets in order to improve the trade balance. For these reasons Jatropha cultivation shall be a way to reduce the trade gap that afflicts poorest countries favouring social and economic development.

    It is also important that biofuels are produced in the most cost-effective way. "The use of technology must improve production efficiency and social environmental performance in all stages of the biofuel values chain". (RSB, 2008) To achieve this point an "investment in transportation infrastructure is crucial to sustainable agricultural development. Decentralized small-scale agricultural production in the developing world needs broad transportation networks to improve market access, reduce retail fertilizer prices and increase harvest prices for farmers. For several African countries, there would be sizeable benefits in terms of poverty reduction". (FAO; Food insecurity in the world; 2009)




    Food security

    As explained in the UN-energy document, the increase of bioenergy will affect food security in a variety of ways. At the same time the current "food, feed, or fuel" debate tends to be overly simplistic and fails to reflect the full complexity of factors that determine food security at any given place and time; it is clear that the relationship between increased demand for biofuels and increased demand for land may result in changes to land access for poor people.

    The rapid spread of commercial planting of biofuels crops, whether for export of for internal market, may result in poorer groups losing access to the land on which they depend: "Biofuel production shall not impair food security". (RBS; 2008).

    The intensification of land use can also have impacts on land access because, in some cases, the use of high cost inputs (seeds, fertilisers) may be associated with agribusiness contracts that are inaccessible to farmers who do not meet the entry criteria (large enough farm size, sufficient financial capital). (UN-Energy; 2007)

    A major hope for biofuels is that crops like Jatropha can be grown on idle and marginal lands. Governments have claimed that significant land areas are under-utilized and available for biofuels production. The government of Mozambique, for example, has stated that only 9% of the country's 36 million ha of arable land are currently in use, and an additional of 41.2 million of ha of marginal land currently not being used. (Namburete; 2006)

    According to the RSB "Biofuels productions shall minimize negative impacts on food security by giving particular preference to waste and residues as input (once economically viable), to degraded/marginal/underutilized lands as sources, and to yield improvements that maintain existing food security", and continues "Biofuel producers implementing large-scale projects shall assess the status of local food security and shall not replace staple crops if there are indicators of local food insecurity".


    Land use change

    This issue must to be analyzed under a social and environmental point of view.

    The spread of biofuels may cause changes in land use that do not affect land access in any way: for example, in the case of a simple change from one crop to another under the same system of management. (FAO & IIED; Fuelling Exclusion? The biofuels boom and poor people's access to land; 2008)

    Some cases associated with the development of large-scale biofuels plantations will involve changes in land tenure and bring to the exclusion of specific social groups like pastoralists, shifting cultivators and women.

    Jatropha can be successfully grown on lands that may have previously been strategic importance for pastoralists. As a result pastoralists have lost significant land areas to other forms of resource use, which are perceived from the governments to be more productive.

    A recent IUCN report underline that women are "more vulnerable to displacement from the uncontrolled expansion of large-scale mono-crop agriculture"(IUCN; Gender and bioenergy; 2007). While local energy self-sufficiency projects have the potential to improve women's livelihoods and reducing time-consuming dependence on traditional bio-energy (fuel-wood), women's land rights risk being eroded by large-scale biofuels expansion.

    From an environmental point of view, one of the greatest risks is the potential impact on land used for feedstock production and harvesting (particularly virgin land or land with high conservation value) and the associated effects on habitat, biodiversity, water, air and soil quality. (UN-Energy; 2007)

    As stated by the European Union in the final agreement on 17 December 2008 "biofuels shall not be made [...] from land with high biodiversity values, that is to say land that had one of the following statuses in or after January 2008, whether or not the land still has this status":
    · Primary forest and other wooded land [...] wooded land of native species, where there are no clearly visible indications of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed;
    · Areas designated by law or by the relevant competent authority for nature protection purposes;
    · Highly biodiverse natural grassland - grassland that would remain grassland in the absence of human intervention and which maintains the natural species composition and ecological characteristics and processes; or
    · Highly biodiverse non natural grassland, that is to say grassland that would cease to be grassland in the absence of human intervention and which is species-rich and not degraded, unless evidence is provided that the harvesting of the raw material is necessary to preserve its grassland status. If changes in the carbon content of soils, or in carbon stock in forests and peat lands related to biofuels production, might offset some or all of the GHG benefits, good farming methods can achieve increases in productivity with neutral or even positive impacts on the surrounding environment. The use of intercropping for example can reduce soil erosion, improve soil quality, reduce water consumption and reduce susceptibility of crops to pests and disease reducing the need for chemical fertiliser and pesticides.

    Perennial crops like Jatropha can reverse desertification by helping to improve the conditions of degraded lands, but the use of large-scale mono-crop could lead to significant biodiversity loss.


    Energy Balance

    The total amount of energy input into the process compared to the energy released by burning the resulting bioenergy is known as energy balance, energy return on investment (EROI) or net energy gain (NEG).

    Estimating the net impacts of biofuels' energy balance is a very complex issue. To be a viable substitute for a fossil fuel, an alternative fuel should not only have superior environmental benefits over the fossil fuel it displaces, be economically competitive with it, and be producible in sufficient quantities to make a meaningful impact on energy demands, but it should also provide a net energy gain over the energy sources used to produce it. (GBEP, 2008)

    Energy balances need to consider the entire fuel cycle, from feedstock production to final consumption. The actual net energy of biofuel production is highly dependent on the bio source that is converted into energy, how it is grown and harvested (and in particular the use of petroleum-derived fertilizer and pesticide), as well as the conversion technology. Assessments should also include energy paybacks associated with the co-products - the so-called "co-products credits". (IIED; 2006)

    According to the United States Departments of Energy (DoE), to evaluate the net energy four variables must be considered:

    1. The amount of energy contained in the final product;
    2. The amount of energy directly consumed to make the product (such as the diesel used in tractors, etc)
    3. The quality of the resulting product compared to the quality of refined gasoline
    4. The energy indirectly consumed (in order to make the processing plant, etc).


    GHG emissions

    The use of biofuel has the potential to significantly reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

    Current production and use of biofuels could reduce GHG emissions relative to petroleum-based fuels or could increase them, depending on the pathways chosen for their production. The most critical factor in the GHG balance of bioenergy production is the land-use issue. If a virgin forest, for example, is destroyed in order to plant bioenergy crops, the GHG benefits of displacing fossil fuels with the biofuel produced on that land will be nullified for decades. (GBEP; 2008)

    The climate impact of various forms of bioenergy depends greatly on their fossil energy balance. Unlike fossil fuels, biomass fuels have the potential to be "carbon-neutral" over their life cycles, emitting only as much carbon as feedstock plants absorbs from the atmosphere as they grow, however this is generally not the case in practice due to GHG emissions produced in the feedstock production, processing, and distribution.

    Full life-cycle GHG emissions of biofuels vary widely based on: land use change, choice of feedstock, agricultural practices, refining or conversion process, and end-use practices.

    In accordance with the European parliament "the greenhouse emission saving from the use of biofuels and other bioliquids shall be 35% compared with fossil fuel emission".

    To minimise the GHG emissions is necessary to safeguard virgin grasslands, primary forests and other lands with high nature value, and to encourage the use of sustainable practices.

    If, for example, prairie grassland is converted to maize or soy, treated with chemical fertiliser and pesticides, and refined with coal and natural gas, the resulting biofuel could have a greater impact on the climate over its live cycle than fossil fuels. (UN-Energy, 2007)

    Jatropha it can be cultivated on substandard land and help restore eroded areas, generating clean energy while helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and revitalise local ecosystem.

    For those reasons an international certification scheme needs to include GHG verifications for the entire lifecycle of bioenergy products, especially biofuels.




    References

    EPFL Energy Center, 2008, Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, Global principles and criteria for sustainable biofuels production, Version Zero.
    FAO and IIED, 2008, Fuelling Exclusion? The Biofuels Boom and Poor People's Access to Land.
    FAO, 2008, The State of Food and Agriculture.
    FAO, 2008, The State of Food Insecurity in the World.
    GBEP, 2008, Bioenergy Development in G8 +5 Countries.
    GBEP, 2008, Conclusions of the 2nd GBEP Task Force Meeting on GHG Methodologies, GBEP
    IIED, 2006, Biofuel production, trade and sustainable development: emerging issues.
    UN-Energy, 2007, Sustainable Bioenergy: A Framework for Decision Makers.

    To download the full publication click here

    For further information, please write to: scientificommittee@jatrophabook.com




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  23. High School Students' Project Jatropha Benefiting Environment, Reducing Poverty in Rural India
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    Posted 05 January 2009 @ 03:16 am EST

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    Two California high school siblings are changing lives with their grassroots initiative to assist Indian farmers entrenched in poverty. Adarsha Shivakumar and Apoorva Rangan founded Project Jatropha to encourage the development of farmer-owned crops of Jatropha, a long living, economically viable shrub with seeds that can be converted into biodiesel.
    Oakland, Calif. (PRWEB) January 5, 2009 -- Two high school students of The College Preparatory School, Adarsha Shivakumar (age 15) and Apoorva Rangan (age 14), have just returned from India after successfully finishing the first phase of Project Jatropha, an inspirational mission aiming to simultaneously save the environment and boost the rural Indian economy. Adarsha Shivakumar launched the grassroots initiative last year, as a high school freshman, with the help of his eighth-grade sister, Apoorva Rangan.

    "Project Jatropha's main goal is to enable farmers and women's self help groups entrenched in poverty to grow Jatropha either as a hedge crop or in intercropping on an economically viable scale," Adarsha Shivakumar says. "Carbon dioxide emissions are local, but their effects are global. Even though this nascent project has started on a small scale, our vision is that this is the beginning of a mass movement where small farmers collaborate with environmentally enthusiastic youth who will inherit the world."

    Jatropha curcas is a small deciduous shrub with a lifespan of 40 to 50 years. The seeds it produces contain 30 percent oil, which can be converted into biodiesel. When Indian railways and road transport corporations started using Jatropha biodiesel, Jatropha became popular in India. However, the industry's growth is restricted to massive plantations owned by private for profit sector companies; small farmers cannot possibly acquire enough land to compete with massive plantations.

    Project Jatropha is located in a rural belt of Karnataka, near Hunsur Taluk, Mysore district where a significant number of small farmers make a living by growing tobacco for export. To most subsistence farmers, this is the only crop that brings them money. Farmers cure the raw tobacco leaves in barns using firewood taken from the forest, the destruction of which is harming regional biodiversity. The Indian government recently signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control with the goals of cutting tobacco cultivation by at least half by 2020 and weaning farmers away from growing tobacco by offering compensation packages. Nevertheless, this solution will not be sufficient, as the money would run out and the government is promoting no alternative commercial crops.

    "In his book 'Hot, Flat, and Crowded,' Thomas L. Friedman gives four criterion that any biofuel must meet: It must have a large positive energy input, not destroy biodiversity-rich land, must not release large amounts of carbon dioxide when grown, and must not solve one problem only to create another. Jatropha meets all these criterion, making it an ideal crop," Adarsha Shivakumar says. "Promoting Jatropha will encourage farmers to move away from tobacco by providing an attractive alternative, simultaneously eliminating the need for firewood, which will help preserve nearby Nagarahole national park and the trees in their own farms."

    In June of 2008, Adarsha Shivakumar and Apoorva Rangan brought together Parivarthana, a non-governmental organization that helps farmers, and Labland Biotechs, a plant biotechnology company that grows high-quality Jatropha seedlings as collaborators to distribute 1,000 high-quality Jatropha seedlings to the farmers. Their work has been featured in the "Times of India" because of their recent visit to India, where they extracted 35 liters of biodiesel from 100 kg of seeds and distributed the oil to local farmers. Adarsha Shivakumar and Apoorva Rangan also formed partnerships with two rural high schools in the area. Callie Roberts, a sophomore in The College Preparatory School, has joined the duo for the second phase of the project.

    The Rotary International in Hunsur honored Adarsha and Apoorva for their inspirational project, and many newspapers and local TV channels have featured their work.

    For more information about Project Jatropha, visit www.ProjectJatropha.com.

    Contact:
    Adarsha Shivakumar
    Founder and Executive Director, Project Jatropha
    925-935-6522
    Adarsha at ProjectJatropha dot com

    # # #

    Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/high_school_students/Project_Jatropha/prweb1820594.htm.


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  24. Mali’s Farmers Discover a Weed’s Potential Power
    By LYDIA POLGREEN

    KOULIKORO, Mali — When Suleiman Diarra Banani’s brother said that the poisonous black seeds dropping from the seemingly worthless weed that had grown around his family farm for decades could be used to run a generator, or even a car, Mr. Banani did not believe him. When he suggested that they intersperse the plant, until now used as a natural fence between rows of their regular crops — edible millet, peanuts, corn and beans — he thought his older brother, Dadjo, was crazy.

    “I thought it was a plant for old ladies to make soap,” he said.

    But now that a plant called jatropha is being hailed by scientists and policy makers as a potentially ideal source of biofuel, a plant that can grow in marginal soil or beside food crops, that does not require a lot of fertilizer and yields many times as much biofuel per acre planted as corn and many other potential biofuels. By planting a row of jatropha for every seven rows of regular crops, Mr. Banani could double his income on the field in the first year and lose none of his usual yield from his field.

    Poor farmers living on a wide band of land on both sides of the equator are planting it on millions of acres, hoping to turn their rockiest, most unproductive fields into a biofuel boom. They are spurred on by big oil companies like BP and the British biofuel giant D1 Oils, which are investing millions of dollars in jatropha cultivation.

    Countries like India, China, the Philippines and Malaysia are starting huge plantations, betting that jatropha will help them to become more energy independent and even export biofuel. It is too soon to say whether jatropha will be viable as a commercial biofuel, scientists say, and farmers in India are already expressing frustration that after being encouraged to plant huge swaths of the bush they have found no buyers for the seeds.

    But here in Mali, one of the poorest nations on earth, a number of small-scale projects aimed at solving local problems — the lack of electricity and rural poverty — are blossoming across the country to use the existing supply of jatropha to fuel specially modified generators in villages far off the electrical grid.

    “We are focused on solving our own energy problems and reducing poverty,” said Aboubacar Samaké, director of a government project aimed at promoting renewable energy. “If it helps the world, that is good, too.”

    Jatropha originated in Central America and is believed to have been spread around the world by Portuguese explorers. In Mali, a landlocked former French colony, it has been used for decades by farmers as a living fence that keeps grazing animals off their fields — the smell and the taste of the plant repel grazing animals — and a guard against erosion, keeping rich topsoil from being blown away by the harsh Sahel winds. The Royal Tropical Institute, a nonprofit research institution in Amsterdam that has been working to develop jatropha as a commercial biofuel, estimates that there are 22,000 linear kilometers, or more than 13,000 miles, of the bush in Mali.

    Jatropha’s proponents say it avoids the major pitfalls of other biofuels, which pose significant environmental and social risks. Places that struggle to feed their populations, like Mali and the rest of the arid Sahel region, can scarcely afford to give up cultivable land for growing biofuel crops. Other potential biofuels, like palm oil, have encountered resistance by environmentalists because plantations have encroached on rain forests and other natural habitats.

    But jatropha can grow on virtually barren land with relatively little rainfall, so it can be planted in places where food does not grow well. It can also be planted beside other crops farmers grow here, like millet, peanuts and beans, without substantially reducing the yield of the fields; it may even help improve output of food crops by, among other things, preventing erosion and keeping animals out.

    Other biofuels like ethanol from corn and sugar cane require large amounts of water and fertilizer, and factory farming in some cases consumes substantial amounts of petroleum, making the environmental benefits limited, critics say. But jatropha requires no pesticides, Mr. Samaké said, little water other than rain and no fertilizer beyond the nutrient-rich seed cake left after oil is pressed from its nuts.

    The plant is promising enough that companies across the world are looking at planting millions of acres of jatropha in the next few years, in places as far flung as Brazil, China, India and Swaziland. A company based in Singapore has announced plans to plant two million hectares, about 4.9 million acres, of jatropha in the Philippines.

    Here in Mali, a Dutch entrepreneur, Hugo Verkuijl, has started a company with the backing of investors and assistance from the Dutch government, to produce biodiesel from jatropha seeds.

    Mr. Verkuijl, 39, an economist who has worked for nonprofit groups, is part of a new breed of entrepreneurs who are marrying the traditional aims of aid groups working in Africa with a capitalist ethos they hope will bring longevity to their efforts.

    “An aid project will live or die by its funders,” Mr. Verkuijl said, but “a business has momentum and a motive to keep going, even if its founders move on.”

    His company, Mali Biocarburant, is partly owned by the farmers who will grow the nuts, something he said would help the business to succeed by giving the farmers a stake.

    It takes about four kilograms (about 8.8 pounds) of seeds to make a liter of oil, and Mr. Verkuijl will sign contracts with farmers to buy the seeds in bulk. The fuel he produces will cost about the same as regular diesel, he said — more than $1 a liter, which is about 1.06 liquid quarts. He will also return the nutrient-rich seed cake, left after the seeds are pressed for oil, to the farmers to use as fertilizer. He said he hoped to produce 100,000 liters of biodiesel this year and 600,000 a year by the third year.

    Even if jatropha proves a success in Mali, it is still not without risks. If farmers come to see it as more valuable than food crops, they could cripple the country’s food production.

    These kinds of worries led a recent United Nations report on biofuels to conclude that “the benefits to farmers are not assured, and may come with increased costs,” the report said. “At their worst, biofuel programs can also result in a concentration of ownership that could drive the world’s poorest farmers off their land and into deeper poverty.”

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  25. Destiny, Florida picks up where Disney’s EPCOT left off: a sustainable, large-scale community, powered by bioenergy

    destinyIn Florida, a sustainable community that will ultimately provide 50,000 homes south of Orlando, is providing a blueprint not only for Florida’s future land development, but the integration of biofuel production into a mixed-use community where sustainable agriculture, for food and fuel, is a cornerstone of the economic proposition.

    In a town called Destiny, planners are reminding us that sustainability means not only the environment, but social and economic sustainability as well.

    Heading the project is Randy Johnson, a prominent state legislator from Florida recently term-limited out of office, who had for years represented the Disney-developed “ideal community” of Celebration. Unlike the bedroom community approach of Celebration, Destiny brings business and agriculture together with residences into a new vision of sustainability. Somewhere Walt Disney, who envisioned EPCOT as an experimental community of just this sort instead of the permanent world’s fair it ultimately became, will be smiling.

    “Leave the earth as you found it,” says Johnson, “is the outlook of the companies we want to have here in Destiny,” promising that the companies that locate in the Destiny ecosystem. Destiny farms are now planting and testing 20 acres of sweet sorghum in cooperation with Global Renewable Energy and the University of Florida.

    Their goal: to discover what crops work best for energy production, and to move Destiny and Florida past the food-versus-fuel debate that has strangled the nation in its love-hate affair with corn ethanol. Johnson says that Destiny’s view is that corn is not viable as an energy crop in Florida, that the state is looking for crops that do not require the fertilizer intensive farming practices associated with corn cultivation.

    More importantly, the state wants to find an alternative to the land-exhauting citrus cultivation that has left more and more acreage in Florida unable to sustain agriculture, making it ripe pickings for conversion to residential land.

    “We want to get the science right on the front end,” Johnson said. “Sugar cane is water intensive, corn needs intense fertilizer. So we donated land and GRE and the University re studying it under a state grant.” Destiny will produce ethanol on a low-impact basis. For example, the farms will utilize a 1V solar-powered irrigation systems and a gravity flow system to improve water distribution. System cost, $20,000, or $1000 per acre.

    The farms have dedicated “a couple of hundred acres” for jatropha test cultivation, next to a worked out citrus grove, and Johnson said that the farms are also testing algae cultivation. The energy crops will provide fuel, power and cash, as well as forming an urban buffer.

    Also on the docket for Destiny: a 30MW solar array, a waste-to-power system extracting methane to drive turbines for power. The community establishes joint ventures with each of its partners, to keep a strong community involvement in each project. Also, a green building code, and mandating the use of renewables at every opportunity.

    The Energy Farm will add additional feedstock crops and demo processing facilities in phases, as resources permit. The current plan is to plant a small amount of jatropha and other oil based feedstock (i.e. camelina, sunflower) this year and add a small processing system (oil recovery, biodiesel) in 2010.

    Based on the current size of the Energy Farm (40 acres), all fuel produced on-site will be used internally, with a long term goal of being fully self-sufficient. Current plans call for the production of biodiesel only.

    Destiny is not organized as a city, interestingly, but as a Community development District, with the community unincorporated within Florida’s Osceola County, where Johnson says of the county council: “they get it”.

    Destiny, as a fully developed community, is slated for 50,000 homes to ensure there are enough residents in high-density developments to support mass transit. “We’re looking for a paradign shift in development,” he said of the community’s size, scope, and its reach for something beyond unsustainability not only in ersidential development but old agricultural practices.

    “Celebration was a great leap forward,” said Johnson, “when you measure what was built at the time, and as good as it was, but it can be so much better now that we have the ability on a cost basis to do much better. In Celebration, we set out to build the percet place to live, but now, we’re going back and doing it better. For example, we want a community where there is enough infrastructiure so that every family only needs one car, and people don’t have to fight over it.

    “We spent many hours talking about EPCOT and Walt wanted it to be. About the dreama nd the building of that project. What Walt Disney really had in mind, well the technolgy and the systems just were not there in the 50s and 60s. It’s all do-able now because of great technological advances, and a convergence of them. Necessity is the mother of invention. With the economy faltering , American are starting to get it.”

    A sustainable community that produces its own energy crops, generates its own power, and reduces carbon at every opportunity in the agricultural process. Builds on a scale where mass transit is possible and families do not use a second car. And a commitment to integrating university researchers, corporate entrpreneurship, and community involvement in the structuring of energy enterprises to serve the community with food and fuel.

    Walt Disney would marvel at it. It’s the “most sustainable place on earth” to borrow from a Disney phrase. The vision was styled Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) is no longer experimental, or tomorrow. It’s a prototype, for sure, but not hard to replicate. And, more importantly, it is somethign EPCOT hoped to be and never was: a living community.
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  26. JatrophaWorld Asia 2009 participants’ feedback says it all! JatrophaWorld 2009 continues its run as world’s most relevant & important Jatropha forum.
    By divyasangam | No Comments | Leave A Comment
    March 5th, 2009

    Source: EcoWorld.com

    JatrophaWorld Asia 2009 convened in Kuala Lumpur on 16-17 February 2009. The KL event was the first leg of the eagerly anticipated JatrophaWorld 2009 conference series, and took the JatrophaWorld experience to a whole new level.

    JatrophaWorld regulars like Mike Vanstone, Director at New World Energy who is developing a Jatropha project in Indonesia, said “I enjoyed JatrophaWorld Asia 2009 even more than I did JatrophaWorld 2008!”

    Participants shared some frank feedback on the topics that they found most relevant, the issues that they found to be most important to their business, and why they chose to attend JatrophaWorld Asia 2009.

    In fact, one of the participants, a Purchasing Division Representative from South Korea’s Dongkuk R&S gave the conference a ‘Silver Star‘ rating, and said, “We have little information about Jatropha, so it was great to participate and see all the important data and hear first hand experiences.”

    Other top level executives who gave JatrophaWorld Asia 2009 their two thumbs up rating included the Director of ASA Consulting, who came all the way from France. She said, “JatrophaWorld Asia 2009 was a very interesting experience. It fulfilled all my Expectations!”

    Most participants were very satisfied with the knowledge shared by the JatrophaWorld Asia panellists. The Vice-Director of the Vietnam’s Research Institute for Oil Plants (IOOP) noted, “I learned a lot from the speakers, which is useful for my work in Jatropha.”

    But what got everyone singing praises were the extensive networking opportunities during the JatrophaWorld Asia 2009 program.

    The Global Feedstock Manager from Finland’s Neste Oil, a major end-user of Jatropha oil said about the networking, “Everyone I met at JatrophaWorld Asia 2009 are deep into the subject and many have actual experience.” She was able to gain some first-hand perspectives from key Jatropha suppliers which was the largest group of people present at the event.

    Others, including a Research Officer from Malaysia’s Agro Biotechnology Institute said, “I really found the networking very useful. I was able to exchange ideas and technologies with key Jatropha players & researchers.” She said this while sharing about the diverse group of people within the Jatropha value chain that she got to meet.

    These testimonials come from real players in the Jatropha community, who have a vested interest in Jatropha and play a significant role in the race to end the world’s dependence on fossil fuels.

    As the Plantations Manager from D1-Williamson Magor Biofuel Ltd, one of India’s largest Jatropha projects remarked “JatrophaWorld plays a significant role in the consolidation of the Jatropha and Biodiesel industries.”

    Attending Jatropha World Americas 2009 on 10-11 June 2009 in Miami, USA will be the best thing you will do for your Jatropha business.

    >>CLICK HERE<< to confirm your participation early at this conference that is guaranteed to attract some of the most influential Jatro-entrepreneurs from the Americas and around the world!

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  27. Hi Team Jatropha,

    Speacial thanks to you guys for taking great steps to help formers in need and helping environment at large. I am also from rural India and would like to take this project to our villages. Farmers in rural India would like to know the immediate outcome of any new crop they want to try. Can you please share the following information(it would help me to convince my people to participate in this project)?
    -what is the duration of the crop?
    - what is the yield/hectare(in terms of kgs)?
    - are there any other companies/labs buying these seeds back or it is only Labland biotechs? This is crucial as transportation cost may be another hurdle.
    - what is the maintenance cost you have noticed so far?
    - finally what is the net profit per hectare?

    You might have already answered above questions many times to many people. please share your answers and i will talk to my community and get back to you guys.

    Thanks a lot and waiting for your response.

    Mahesh
    Charlotte NC

    ReplyDelete
  28. Dear Mahesh,

    Thank you for your appreciation of our project. The Project Jatropha team is happy to know that more people are interested in applying the basic principles of our project to other areas where we cannot reach. Just wondering, what part of India are you from and where are you trying to convince people?

    In order to give you accurate information regarding the specifics of our project, we will contact our collaborator Dr. Sudheer Shetty, who has more experience in this area, for detailed statistics and reply to you ASAP.

    Sincerely,
    Adarsha

    ReplyDelete
  29. I am from Raichur.North Karnataka. it is 430Kms from Bangalore.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hello Project Jatropha Team :

    I must congratulate you on your pioneering efforts in getting this project off the ground.
    There are many companies who are pursuing Jatropha as a for profit enterprise. But the most important accomplishment is to be able to convince the skeptical & shrewd villagers to participate.

    i wish you all the luck !

    John D .Smith

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hi Project Jatropha Team,
    Great job guys. Actually I am interested in the answers to Mahesh's questions as well. I come from a village near malavalli called Siddapura. Though I reside in Baltimore from almost 20 years now, I would love to see our farmers get into this project. May be you guys should invite farmer leaders to your project site to show them your work and meet their fellow friends.
    Great job overall
    Subbanna

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you very much Mr. Subbanna for your encouraging words.
    1. The plants ( high-quality seedlings) start producing an economically viable number of seeds in the second or third year and continue producing seeds for an estimated 30-50 years.
    2. The density of plants varies depending on the type of plantation:
    1200 plants per acre where we do not irrigate the plants/the plants depend on the rainwater, 6' x 6' plot for each plant. The seed yield would be up to 1 kg per tree per year.
    1000 plants per acre where we do have moderate irrigation facility along with semi-intensive cultivation, with a 6' x 7' plant plot; the seed yield would be 2 to 3 kgs per tree per year.
    700 to 900 plants with regular irrigation and with good fertigation system with intensive cultivation, with a 7' x 9' plant plot. The seed yield would be up to 5 kgs per tree per year.
    3. As of now the minimum purchase price is Rs. 10/- kg of seeds. I am sure that there are other companies like Labland Biotechs who are willing to buy back the seeds, as Jatropha biofuel is in great demand in India now, especially among the Rail and Road Transport corporations.
    4. The cost of cultivation varies according to the above three cultivation modes.
    5. Like the cost of cultivation, the net profit per hectare would vary depending on the type of cultivation done by the farmers. Regardless, for the farmers, even little cultivation of the plants would yield a large income for them .

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks for the quick response guys. The information that you provided is very useful. Considering the different options, this looks like a safe bet. THe transportation of seeds might be a problem. But If you say that there is a demand, I believe you have done your research.However, as Smith points out in his comment, the farmers are skeptical. I don't blame them. They have had a real hard time. When are you guys going to India next for your project? May be you should invite a couple of farmer leaders from different areas to meet with you guys? Think about this guys.
    Please share any other interesting information that you may have on the blog. I have gone through your press kit in depth. I also saw a couple of videos. The one where you are demonstrating the oil extraction, it seems to be incomplete right? It seems to be missing the beginning portion. Other You tube videos look very interesting. If you have any other untold interesting stories please do share with the public.
    Subbanna

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi Project Jatropha Team,
    Congratulations! My god, you got a corporate partnership. How did you manage to do that? I am impressed. My kids are still in tune with the project. We are trying to coordinate with an Indian student who is planning on a similar project in Tamil Nadu. We will keep you posted. We will need your help. May be one day we can be collaborators too. I am one of the Adult Advisor. We are applying fopr TPE grants. You should look into that as well.
    Mrs. Andorra

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hi Project Jatropha Team,
    This is Rajiv Chakravarthy. I have contacted you through your T4P web page. I am still the process of finding the villages near Madras to start Jatropha Cultivation. Do you have any idea if there are J plantation there? My father is from a small town close to Madras. We plan on going there this summer. I have a wonderful back up of students and parents from PEA. Is Project Jatropha an NPO now? How did you go about it?
    ~RC

    ReplyDelete
  36. Congratulations Project Jatropha Team,
    The pictures on the T4PE Awards are just great. I can't believe just a three member team can be this efficient. I also heard Adarsha's interview with Gail. If you run for elections I will vote for you too. Keep up the good work. We are in the process of starting a group ourselves in T4P. Our project might be based in Tamil Nadu India, we are not sure. Congratulations again.
    Cheers,
    Lilian

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hello Rajiv,
    This is Apoorva Rangan, co-founder of Project Jatropha. We are currently not an NPO, but we are in the process of becoming one.

    ~Apoorva

    ReplyDelete