Bunge Teams with SG Biofuels for Jatropha Seed Biofuels

Jatropha curcas is a non-edible shrub native to Central America. Its seeds have high oil content, and can be processed to produce a high-quality energy feedstock. It can be effectively grown on marginal lands that are considered undesirable for food crops. _GCC

Jatropha curcas is a tropical oil seed shrub, with a non-edible oil content. Jatropha oil is a high quality oil for many uses -- including consumer products such as cosmetics and for industrial use. In order to process the seed in North America as a fuel, large quantities of jatropha seed would need to be supplied to process and refining plants. This will require a massive, multi-disciplinary effort to ramp up the growth and production of jatropha seed for a North American market.

SG Biofuels, a bioenergy crop company developing and producing elite seeds of Jatropha, has established a strategic partnership with Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited to research and develop a model to process Jatropha seeds into a biofuel feedstock.

Bunge, a global leader in oilseed processing, joins an industry-leading team of partners, including Flint Hills Resources, a refining and petrochemical company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Industries; Life Technologies Corporation, a global biotechnology tools company; and others that are collaborating with SG Biofuels to develop Jatropha as a viable source for cost-effective, sustainable crude plant oil.

The development of a successful market for Jatropha requires that all aspects of the value chain are met, from crop science and proper agronomics all the way through processing and refining. Bunge, together with Life Technologies and Flint Hills Resources, provides a fully integrated platform from which our customers can develop, produce and profit from large volumes of crude Jatropha oil.
—SG Biofuels President and Chief Executive Officer Kirk Haney

Jatropha curcas is a non-edible shrub native to Central America. Its seeds have high oil content, and can be processed to produce a high-quality energy feedstock. It can be effectively grown on marginal lands that are considered undesirable for food crops.

The company’s integrated breeding and biotechnology approach forms the foundation for its JMax Jatropha Optimization Platform, providing research agencies, growers and plantation developers with access to the company’s germplasm library, Jatropha curcas genome sequence, molecular markers and advanced biotech and synthetic biology tools to optimize elite Jatropha cultivars for unique growing conditions around the world. _GCC