With just 14 months after planting its first jatropha curcas, Sun Biofuels has extracted jatropha oil from its first yield of seeds in Mozambique.
The company had negotiated 5,000 hectares of land for jatropha plantations in Mozambique and 8,000 hectares in Tanzania in 2006. Jatropha, used as a feedstock for biofuels, has been a success story for both countries with a 95% germination rate. And while the debate continues on food vs fuel, Sun Biofuels said that the Mozambique plantation did not displace any existing food crops as the site was acquired from a tobacco firm with the Tanzanian operations clamed from coastal scrub land “badly degraded by local charcoal production.”
Richard Morgan, Sun Biofuels’ CEO, said: “[The company’s] responsibility to the people and the environment of the countries in which the company operates is taken extremely seriously. This is not simply a case of business ethics but a commercial imperative. At our plantations in Tanzania and Mozambique we employ over 1,350 people – these are very poor areas and this is a much-needed source of local income.”
He continued: “At each farm location a proportion of land is devoted to the cultivation of maize, sunflowers, or cassava to ensure the food security of the local community. Moreover, the company works in close partnership with the local communities on a variety of projects from the restoration of vital infrastructure to the provision of education and most importantly healthcare – particularly in combating the menace of leprosy and malaria. Outgrower schemes, whereby local farmers will be given the opportunity and training to produce their own jatropha crop, are also a fundamental tenet of the company’s strategy. Any visit to our plantations will testify to the vital impact the company has made to the lives of the local people.”
He said that early production puts Sun Biofuels on track with making the product commercially viable. “We are particularly excited about pioneering the provision of jatropha bio-jet fuel, the possibility of which we are currently discussing with a number of airlines committed to reducing their carbon footprint,” he said.
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