Please take a minute to review these articles:
Air New Zealand tests biofuel Boeing - CNET News
Air NZ biofuel test flight a success
Continental Airlines yesterday announced plans for a biofuel demonstration flight
Mechanically Harvest Jatropha - More Here.
Mechanically Harvesting Jatropha 2 - More Here
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BEI International Jatropha Harvesting With the total jatropha plantation in the Americans standing at more than 64,000 acres this year it is one of the fastest growing harvesting markets. The hardy Jatropha shrub grows in a variety of climates, and already has helped launch biodiesel programs in USA, India, Mali, Indonesia, Brazil, Chile and other regions. With good Jatropha fruit yields and cheap prices, jatropha makes sense economically as a biodiesel feedstock and it can be grown virtually anywhere. The Jatropha plant is well adapted for marginal soils with low nutrition while producing fruit-seeds for about 30 years.
Applications of Jatropha
- Non energy: erosion control, soap, insecticide, medicinal, etc.
- Energy: Bio-oil, biogas, etc.
Unique Benefits of Jatropha
- Jatropha can grow in semi arid locations & Degraded land
- Jatropha is undesireable food source for animals
- Jatropha acts as a soil protection barrier
- Jatropha doesn't compete with food crops
- Jatropha has high yields
- Jatropha is resistant to most pests/diseases
- Jatropha reqiures low cultivation attention
Majority of Jatropha is unfortunately harvested by hand and primarily excluded from Mechanical Harvesting. Jatropha Harvesting is expected to make up between 35 to 50% of the total production cost of bio-diesel, so it's very important to look at how much one worker can harvest. For palm oil, an average of around 16 man-hours is needed to harvest one tonne. For avocado, an average of around 40 man-hours is needed to harvest one tonne. For jatropha, an average of 500 man-hours is needed to harvest one tonne of seeds. Hence the evident problem of continuing a labor intensive harvest. Mechanically harvesting Jatropha ensures the next step in harvesting evolution of Jatropha crops.
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