In Tunisia, ENI has launched a pilot project growing castor that will be used for producing oil to supply biofuel production at its facilities in Venice and Gela, Sicily. The 140-acre trial has been split up in lots to facilitate the trials. The company is searching for alternative feedstocks to used cooking oil, its primary […]
A ‘breakthrough’ mechanical harvesting solution for castor bean plants was developed by Evogene and agricultural equipment manufacturer, Fantini s.r.l., resulting in the removal of a major bottleneck in the conversion of castor beans into a fully modernized commercial crop. With field trial yield losses decreasing significantly (we are talkin’ up to 50% decrease) as a […]
In Israel, Evofuel Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. and Fantini s.r.l announced the successful development of a mechanical harvesting solution for castor bean plants. The solution developed has shown a significant decrease in yield losses, from up to 50% with the current solutions to as low as 5% with the combination of […]
In Jamaica, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, the government agency charged with leading the country’s energy resources, developed a castor seed oil blend for use in diesel vehicles. The blend should replace 97,000 barrels of imported oil and PCJ says the new B5 blend will save Jamaica an estimated $540 million per year in imports. […]
In Jamaica, the Petroleum Corp of Jamaica is moving forward its vehicular trials of B5 blends using castor oil-based biodiesel in an effort to see if the fuel could be a viable alternative for the island. The trials run jointly between the PCJ, the Ministry of Agriculture, Bodles Agricultural Research Station and the Caribbean Agricultural […]
In Jamaica, the Jamaica Promotions Corporation commissioned a report looking at opportunities for castor oil in the country and have determined biodiesel, lubricants and cosmetics will be key market drivers for a future industry. Demand around the Caribbean was detected during the study along with production possibilities and capacity. The key to making the crop […]
In California, Earth Gen-BioFuel announced that it has finalized plans for expanding castor bean operations in Laos. Import demand for countries processing Castor Beans continues to be very strong. To capitalize on this trend, Earth Gen plans to upgrade the close to 600 acres of castor beans already planted and expand operation to new locations […]
In Iran, chemical engineers have found a way to produce biodiesel from castor oil without the need for extra petrochemical methanol, using a biorefinery set-up. Producing biodiesel from vegetable oils is not completely renewable, as the standard transesterification process requires the use of methanol, which is usually produced from petrochemical sources. The researchers, Hamed Bateni […]
In New York state, growth of major end-use industries (includes lubricants, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals) and increasing demand for sustainable products & biodegradable, on account of reducing dependence on petrochemicals is anticipated to fuel the demand for castor oil derivatives market. Also regulatory support and rising prices of alternative renewable chemicals is expected to drive the […]
In Israel, Evogene has announced its financial results for Q4 and 2014. The company announced that Evofuel continues to make progress toward commercializing its propriety castor seeds in 2016 with key achievements in strengthening its agronomic offering and commercial reach in Brazil. Ofer Haviv, Evogene’s President and CEO, stated: “This past year was a year […]
