Jatropha continues to generate headlines around the world and in leading business, environmental and scientific publications as one of the most sustainable and economically viable feedstocks for biofuels. Keep track of our latest news and events, as well as news about Jatropha.
For media inquiries, contact media@sgbiofuels.com.
Feb 22, 2010: SG Biofuels Launches World’s First Elite Jatropha Cultivar
SG Biofuels, a sustainable plant oil company specializing in the development of Jatropha as a low-cost, sustainable source of oil, today announced the launch of JMax 100, a proprietary cultivar of Jatropha optimized for growing conditions in Guatemala with yields 100 percent greater than existing varieties.
JMax 100 is the first elite cultivar developed through the company’s JMax Jatropha Optimization Platform. The platform provides growers and plantation developers with access to the highest yielding and most profitable Jatropha in the world, the sequenced genome and advanced biotech and synthetic biology tools to develop cultivars specifically optimized for their unique growing conditions.
Read more...
Feb 17, 2010: SG Biofuels Aims to ‘Green’ Transportation With Fuel From Shrub
Kirk Haney is focused on the business of biofuels. Haney and his crew at Encinitas-based SG Biofuels are working on turning a Central American shrub called jatropha into the next cash crop for “greening” transportation around the globe.
San Diego Business Journal
Jan 14, 2010: Biodiesel from Jatropha plants: A new partnership
Plant science company SG Biofuels will partner with biotechnology firm Life Technologies Corp. to establish seeds from the jatropha shrub as a viable alternative fuel.
The alliance would use the massive collection of jatropha curcas genetic materials at SG’s Genetic Resource Center in conjunction with Life Technology’s biotech and synthetic biology tools, Encinitas-based SG said today.
Los Angeles Times
Jan 12, 2010: "The new Jatropha": SG Biofuels Partners with Life Technologies to Accelerate New Cultivar Development by 60 Percent
In California, jatropha pioneer SG Biofuels announced a strategic alliance with Life Technologies Corporation, a provider of innovative life science solutions, to advance the development of Jatropha as a sustainable biofuel.
The alliance brings together SG Biofuels’ Genetic Resource Center, featuring the largest and most diverse library of Jatropha genetic material in the world, with the advanced biotechnology and synthetic biology tools of Life Technologies.
Biofuels Digest >>
Dec 02, 2009: SG Biofuels Named One of Top 50 Companies in Bioenergy
SG Biofuels, a plant oil company specializing in the development of Jatropha as a low-cost, sustainable source of oil, today was named one of Top 50 Companies in Bioenergy by Biofuels Digest. SG Biofuels was selected from more than 1,400 eligible companies and 311 companies who received votes from industry leaders and peers. Read more...
Nov 11, 2009: Unleashing the Potential of Jatropha
Imagine if corn were the size of your pinky finger and tomatoes were no larger than marbles. Now imagine the impact that would have on our global food supply.
The reality is, that’s the size they were before selective breeding and genetic enhancement. Today, we have the opportunity to achieve a similar evolution in jatropha that could drastically impact our supply of renewable energy.
Cleantech
Nov 03, 2009: Wonder Crop to Blunder Crop and Back Again
It started with the corn-ethanol boom in 2004. Plants -- whether algae or dinner table staples -- were billed as the cure for our addiction to fossil fuels. But high hopes and initial enthusiasm gradually gave way to a sobering reality: that finding a viable replacement for oil in the modern economy is an extremely difficult proposition. To get a sense of just how difficult, consider the saga of jatropha curcas.
The poisonous, oil-yielding weed was all the rage among biofuel enthusiasts in 2007, when a Goldman Sachs report claimed jatropha biodiesel would cost just $43 a barrel to produce. But domesticating jatropha has proven difficult.
And in June a team of Dutch researchers published a study which showed that producing biodiesel from jatropha consumed more water than a variety of crops including soybeans and corn. Other scientists, however, criticized that study, saying the Dutch team based its conclusions on inadequate data.
Yet even with all this uncertainty, two San Diego County companies are betting on jatropha being a big part of the biofuel mix. Encinitas-based S.G. Biofuels, and La Jolla's Synthetic Genomics, are plowing ahead with their efforts to make the wild weed viable for cultivation.
Voice of San Diego.org
