Viridas to produce jatropha in commercial scale

Biodiesel made from jatropha will be produced on a commercial scale by 2011, U.K.-based biofuel company Viridas P.L.C. said. The company has a trial plantation of the inedible biofuel feedstock in Brazil and plans to expand into a 30,000 hectare plantation to produce about 60,000 metric tons of oil a year by 2011. With the company forecasting the cost of production at US$30 a barrel, it said it is a competitive alternative to fossil fuel. Also, jatropha is attractive as a biofuel feedstock as it doesn’t compete with food production, unlike other biofuel feedstocks, such as palm oil and corn. (March 3, 2009)