Sun Biofuels to produce 2 million liters of fuel from jatropha

Sun Biofuels of the United Kingdom announced that it plans to produce 2 million liters of fuel from its jatropha plantations in Mozambique by 2018. Harry Stourton, business development director, states that, “Our forecast is to produce 20,000 tons of oil from jatropha by 2018 when we are at full capacity, to be cultivated on 10,000 hectares of land in Manica, investing some US$15 million in the process. This will yield roughly 2 million liters of fuel per year.” To that end, the company will be increasing its cultivation of jatropha plants from 2,500 hectares to 10,000 hectares. Stourton indicated that the fuel will primarily be used in Mozambique, but that some could be exported to South Africa and Europe. Jatropha is a plant which can be grown on non-arable land to produce biofuel. (March 15, 2011)