Taiwan is suggesting its South Pacific allies plant Jatropha trees to help solve energy shortages. Most of the nations currently depend on foreign aid for energy. Jatropha seeds and leaves are poisonous and thereby inedible, but the seeds produce oil that can be processed into high-quality biodiesel. “Jatropha is the recipe for green energy, ” [...]

With an official decision on whether or not to re-up the $1 per gallon federal tax credit for biodiesel producers not expected until mid-April, continuing tariffs in the EU and an economy still floundering, it is most definitely safe to say the biodiesel industry has seen brighter days, at least here in the U.S. For [...]

On the island on Java, Indonesia, London-based investment firm Aston Lloyd will be leasing 10,000 hectares of marginal land that will be used to grow a hybrid of jatropha. With its ability to live without excess amounts of water, the drought-resistant jatropha plant thrives in Indonesia’s climate and the government is aiming to have 1.5 [...]

In a major discovery, the Bhavnagar-based Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute or CSMCRI, has found microbe organism from Indian waters to manufacture bio-degradable plastic, using a by-product of jatropha plant, reports say. Director Pushpito K. Ghosh reportedly said CSMCRI made bio-degradable plastic from a side-stream product of jatropha called “glycerol” found during extracting [...]