Mission Increases Jatropha Oil Supply by 4.7 million Barrels
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Mission NewEnergy Ltd., San Antonio, Texas, USA, a producer of environmentally sustainable biofuels, reports that it has materially completed its 2011 Jatropha tree planting season, adding 40,264 new acres and 14,331 new Jatropha contract farmers. The company reported strong progress on the expansion of its acreage profile and now has a total of 234,587 acres under contact around the world, representing a total of more than 164 million trees.
Over the lifespan of each acre, Mission anticipates receiving 115 barrels of Jatropha oil. By adding acreage, it increases the company's crude Jatropha oil supply (a comparable concept to crude oil well reserve). "As our acreage matures," the company notes, "our harvest yields expand (a comparable concept to crude oil well flow rate)."
"We are delighted to be steadily growing our acreage and we see no impediment to future expansion. Our contract farming business model, coupled with advanced management technology, allows us to effectively plant on otherwise unusable land, giving Mission access to land at no capital cost," said Nathan Mahalingam, group CEO of Mission NewEnergy. "We expect significant year-on-year Jatropha oil yield growth into the foreseeable future, from the combination of continual acreage expansion and Mission's already maturing acreage profile. We look forward to reporting our 2011 harvest yields in the coming months."
This planting season Mission has, on a trial basis, planted high yielding varieties from third parties including JOil and Quinvita. It is expected that these higher yielding Jatropha varieties will also significantly reduce the maturation cycle. Mission says it will monitor the relative progress of all varieties planted and roll out the best performing varieties in future planting seasons.
Jatropha Curcas grows on the most arid, marginal lands, producing an inedible seed containing oil that is an ideal biofuels feedstock. The Jatropha tree begins to yield seeds from the third year and provides an annual supply of oil for 30 years.
Operating in Asia, India, Australia, Europe, and North America, Mission NewEnergy is a biodiesel producer and one of the world's largest Jatropha plantation companies. At full capacity, it can produce 105 million gal of biodiesel and have more than 234,587 acres of plantation, representing a sustainable, non-edible oil supply of an estimated 27 million barrels.
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