SG Biofuels discovers cold-tolerant jatropha; may open US for more cultivation
In California, SG Biofuels today announced that it has identified multiple strains of cold tolerant Jatropha capable of thriving in climates outside the crop’s traditional subtropical habitat.
The strains are included among thousands of variations of Jatropha curcas the firm has collected from a range of climates and geographies around the world as part of its Genetic Resource Center, the company’s collection of Jatropha genetic material and reputed to be the world’s largest.
The strains were collected from various sites in Central America at elevations ranging from 1600 meters (5,200 feet) to over 1800 meters (about 6,000 feet), where the average daily low temperature between December and February are typically around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and nightly temperatures can fall well below freezing.
Utilizing the strains, the company is proceeding with a breeding program that is a precursor to the development of jatropha as an oil-producing crop in colder climates of the United States. The company is projecting yields of 200-300 gallons of jatropha oil per acre with effective site selection and cultivation processes, well below yields projected elsewhere in jatropha’s checkered history as a biofuels wonder crop.
Nevertheless, the yields are materially superior to the 60 gallons per acre achieved in the US with soybean oil, and SG Biofuels adds that jatropha has lower input costs compared to other biofuels feedstocks, making it both more economically and environmentally sustainable than some feedstocks used in the US.
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Joelle Brink | Jun 8, 2009 | Reply
This had been suggested in earlier reports from extension agents at the University of Florida that the plant even survives multi-day hard freezes, although it drops its leaves during the freeze and regrows them again within a month. The plants in this study were from tropical Indian stock. Other members of the Jatropha family are found wild in temperate zones of the US.
aniyib | Jun 8, 2009 | Reply
This is really a very important Jatropha opportunity for cold climate areas since Jatropha is now getting ready to widen the list of Biodiesel crops in these areas. But I think for example US Jatropha growing companies should considering also the opportunity Jatropha can offer on stopping or even reducing little by little deserts areas(Nevada) in the future. This can draw considerable benefits from those thousands of non used lands, shifting CO2 greenhouse as well.
For saharan desert countries This last opportunity is paramount too, since in those countries forests are getting scarcer due to mass cut down for households firewood and agriculture activities. Even though in those countries funds are a very big hinder, but with some commitment on the side of governments, this is achievable I think.
chumroen | Jun 9, 2009 | Reply
As the native species in the tropical climate like Thailand .
Jatropha is still in question of the economical viability with the following reasons.
(1) poor agronomic practices
(2)sub-optimal and unsecured yields
(3) competition with subsistence cash crops
(4) poor genetic material.
Trying to bring this tropical crop to cultivated in the cold climates would be a painful result.
It si btter to to solve teh problems of jatropha as it is in the native tropical climate before moving to the other cold climate zone.