editorial@worldbioenergy.org
A US-based company has identified what it says are several strains of cold tolerant jatropha capable of thriving in the United States.
SG Biofuels announced it had collected jatropha specimens from sites in Central America with elevations ranging from 1,600 to 1,800 metres and with winter temperatures of around 7 degrees Celsius, which dip below freezing at night. “We believe that we have located several strains that can make jatropha a viable oil-producing crop in a much broader range of climates here in the United States,” Kirk Haney, President and CEO for SG Biofuelsm, said in a statement. The company said it has started a breeding programme designed to develop a variety of jatropha which can be used as an oil-producing crop in the temperate regions of the United States. Native to Central America, jatropha is a non-edible shrub with oil-containing seeds which can be used for a variety of bio-based materials including biodiesel. Read the full article
here.