Viridas PLC, a company listed on the AIM market of The London Stock Exchange.
Its company chairman, Mr Stanley Wootliff started researching the developement of the Biodiesel market in general, and Jatropha Curcas in particular in 2006.

Two things quickly became apparent, the exciting possibilities for Jatropha commercially and environmentally, together with a major absence of scientifically based Jatropha knowledge and research.

In order to address this lack of reliable information, in 2007 Viridas raised US$1.2M to establish a trial Jatropha plantation in the North East of Brazil. This plantation to provide Viridas with a sound knowledge base to support the initiation, in the Autumn 2008, of a major seven year project, to purchase 250,000 Hectares of idle land in North East Brazil on which to plant and develop Jatropha under the companys its own agronomy. This will be a world scale Jatropha business.

To further promote this project Viridas PLC entered into an exclusive strategic partnership with INEOS Enterprises Ltd, part of INEOS, the worlds third largest chemical group, with annual sales in excess US$45 Billion. INEOS Enterprises will bring to the partnership down stream intelligence together with a significant outlet for Jatropha oil through its ambitious strategy to become  a leading European biodiesel supplier. The first step of that strategy,  to achieve at least 2 million tonnes of biodiesel output by 2012.

Further information on Viridas PLC @ http://viridasplc.com/

Speaker Profile
Stanley Wootliff has had an active life in the city and has been involved as a major investor and Chief Executive in a number of smaller listed companies. He became Chairman and Chief Executive of Viridas Plc in July 1986. He was amongst the first to realise the potential for Jatropha and Biodiesel and in December 2006 started the research and the reorganisation of the company necessary to refocus the companies activities away from its traditional textile trading and into Biodiesel.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Miami Speaker
Day 2 – Wednesday, June 11
12.15 INTERACTIVE PANEL: PLANTATION MANAGEMENT & HARVESTING
• Making mechanisation a reality - development of mechanical seed sowing and harvesting

JatrophaWorld 2008 is a showcase of all the latest trends and shifts occurring in the Jatropha value chain, bringing together on a single platform, the best expertise to discuss and analyze the present and future dynamics of Jatropha from a technological and socio-economic angle. To find more about JatrophaWorld in Miami from June 9 to 11, 2008, please visit http://www.futureenergyevents.com/jatropha/.