Biofuels Company Sets Up Feedstock Nursery
Pure Biofuels Corp., a Peruvian-based biodiesel company, has established a Jatropha nursery that will produce an initial 360,000 plants in approximately two months, scaling up to 1 million plants per month. The first yield of oil, which the company is going to use as feedstock for biodiesel production, is expected in less than a year.
"The establishment of a Jatropha nursery is another significant milestone in our growth strategy. We believe that becoming a self-supplier of feedstock is one of our competitive differentiators and protects us from commodity price fluctuations," said Chris Tewell, company chair. "Importantly, our Jatropha plantation will provide development to adjacent rural communities, creating more than 10,000 jobs."
Jatropha is one of the lowest cost feedstock sources for production of biodiesel. It is a non-food plant that is easy to grow, even on wastelands. It yields more than 2.5 metric tons of non-edible oil per hectare per year. Pure Biofuels plans to plant its crops on marginal land that is unsuitable for cultivating food crops. The company intends to ramp up to a planting a rate of 1,000 hectares per month and expects 80 percent of its feedstock will be derived from its local Jatropha plantation by 2015.
Pure Biofuels' flagship project, the Callao Port biodiesel refinery near Lima, Peru, is scheduled to complete construction in the second quarter of 2008 and to commence full production capabilities by the third quarter of 2008. The company said it believes Peru's economic growth and expansion, illustrated by recent exponential growth in foreign direct investment, and GDP growth over the last five years, adds to Peru's promise as an attractive geography for alternative fuel production and development.