Cambodia Starts Jatropha BioDiesel Production
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Jatropha & Jatropha Seeds
In Cambodia the Jatropha plant is a native species. It can grow without pesticides and fertilizers and it is drought tolerant.
Jacam Energy Co., a joint venture between Cambodia and Japan, will begin proof of concept scale production of jatropha oil in October, raising production to an expected 5,000 liters per day for local consumption.
Jatropha can be used to make biodiesel and could be used to meet demands in rural electricity, river ferries and agricultural and construction machinery, said Chheuy Sophors, president of NCT Jacam.
The company began operations in August, with an investment of $400,000 in a factory in Kampong Speu province, following three years of experimentation. However, the company does not have its own jatropha plantation and would require 5,000 tons of the plant per year. Some 3 kilograms to 4 kilograms of jatropha are required for 1 liter of jatropha oil.
The oil can be bought for less than $1, per liter, equal to the current price of petroleum, but it lasts longer. It can be used by any machinery that uses petroleum. Cambodia already produces bio-ethanol from cassava, which can be mixed with gasoline.
“If we can produce [jatropha oil], especially to supply rural areas, first of all, our people will have employment and our country won’t need to import oil from outside,” said Sath Samy, secretary of state for the Ministry of Mines and Energy. “Or at least we can reduce imports, as we produce [oil] from jatropha.”
Jatropha is grown in many Asian countries, supplying markets in Europe and the US, where it has become popular as a green product helping reduce global warming.
However, in Cambodia, it is not grown in massive amounts and is generally only found growing along fences outside people’s homes.
More: Khmer News
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