Thailand to shift focus on Jatropha for biofuel

Shifting focus to its biodiesel programme, Thailand is planning to open large scale jatropha seed based plants to produce the much needed commodity.

Analysts said long-neglected jatropha ready for a starring role and a rival to palm oil as investors prepare to open large-scale plants in Thailand.
Jatropha seed, known as sabudam in Thai, has long been known for low yields per rai and high labour costs in harvesting, which have reduced its commercial viability.

One advantage of jatropha is that it is not edible, while palm oil use in the fuel industry is limited because demand for the commodity from food processors is so huge.

While it takes four to five kilogrammes of seeds to make one litre of palm oil, it takes only three to four kilogrammes of seeds to make one litre of jatropha oil.

As well, it takes four years for palm trees to produce their first seeds, compared with six months for jatropha. An Australian and Belgian joint venture is hoping to market the new energy plant to the aviation and biodiesel industries.

According to Green Energy Group Thailand will become a leading exporter of jatropha in the next decade as it is already one of the leading exporters of rice and cassava.

Australia-based Curcas Energy and Eurasia Consolidate of Belgium have each been running trials for more than three years in Thailand, spending a combined 150 million baht on research, and are now planning to establish an industry based on oil production factories in Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai.

The second market that the company aims to penetrate is jet fuel, since the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has stated that all civil aviation operators should use 10% biofuel by 2017.

Farmers will receive a minimum price of four baht per kilogramme, and if oil prices go up, the price may rise to 5 or 5.50 baht on the assumption that oil prices will stay at least around US$60-70 per barrel.

Seedlings will be distributed to farmers who will pay 50 satang for a deposit and 2-4 baht per seedling. The company would provide free replacements of 10% of the crop per year in order to improve the yield of existing plantations.