LIRE is a non profit organization founded in 2006 by six members, mainly Lao companies and NGOs. The key founder was Sunlabob (www.sunlabob.com), a Lao company specialized in providing electricity to villages far away from the grid in rural areas. LIREs task focuses on renewable energy technologies in Lao PDR, ranging from fundamental research to implementation projects. Capacity building in research on renewable energy is a key issue as well. In order to do so, the institute employs researchers from Lao PDR and from abroad. In addition, LIRE provides opportunities for Lao and foreign students to get research experience on renewable energy issues in Lao PDR.

Besides basic studies on biofuels and projects on biomass gasification, one of the main topics for LIRE is the production of biofuels with Jatropha Curcas L. Since its foundation, LIRE has been involved in successful projects on Jatropha. We cooperated with local institutions and also partners from abroad.

Speaker Profile
Jakob Rietzler started working at the Lao Institute for Renewable Energy (LIRE) in Vientiane, Lao PDR as the Managing Director since last year. His main responsibility is coordinating all LIREs research activities. Moreover, he coordinates projects within the LIRE Jatropha program such as processing of seeds and exploring possible Jatropha sites via GIS mapping in South East Asia. Another main subject of his work is to establish a network for biofuels partners in Lao PDR with all relevant stakeholders, starting from the farmers up to the end user of biofuels.

Jakob Rietzler graduated with a degree in Energy and Environmental Techniques at the Technical University of Ansbach, Germany. After gaining experience in Germany dealing in the field of renewable energies, he started focusing more in working with tropical energy crops and specifically on Jatropha curcas L. in Lao PDR. Jakob Rietzler represents LIRE at international conferences and continues his work in developing the second generation biofuels.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Hamburg Speaker
Day 2 – Tuesday, October 21
16:00 JATROPHA AGRONOMY & PLANT BREEDING EXPERIENCE FROM LAOS

Overview of Presentation
LIRE (Lao institute for renewable energy) is working on solutions for renewable energies at rural areas of Lao PDR. Besides projects on Biomass gasification, Solar based water purification, LIRE is working on Jatropha. Thus, LIRE wants to verify, if claims about Jatropha can be confirmed and implemented in Laos agriculture.

According to that program, LIRE is currently focusing two main activities at agronomic level: Germplasm and plantation management. Both of them seem to be a key issue in the cultivation of Jatropha and determine seed yield significantly and has therefore great influence to economical viability as well.

To get a better understanding of the plant, LIRE was performing a monitoring experiment at an existing plantation and got first findings about plant development concerning genetic influence and impacts of environmental conditions.

For the breeding program, LIRE has collected different genotypes from Lao PDR and abroad and is now testing them at test fields at relevant conditions for Lao PDR. For now, breeding via selection of best suitable plants takes places and breeding objectives like simultaneous fruit maturation, growth and many others are selected.

Besides germplasm, plantation management plays a crucial role for seed yield. Propagation techniques have influence to root development of the plants which is important for water supply and susceptibility to soil erosion.

The growth of Jatropha plants is also influenced by spacing. Several strategies for plant density could be combined with intercropping technologies. Additionally to irrigation, pruning seems to be an important way for controlling growth in dry season.

GIS mapping seems to be an important tool to determine potential location for Jatropha plantations. With this system, enormous data can be mobilized and the risk for choosing wrong locations can be reduced dramatically. This is not only helpful for the economic point of view, it is also useful for environmental aspects.

The presentation objective is to present impressions of the development of Jatropha in Lao PDR and showing results which we have gained from our experiments. The main focus of the presentation will be:

• GIS mapping, useful tool for localize suitable Jatropha areas in context of the second generation biofuels
• Existing Jatropha plantations in Lao PDR
• Plantation management, pruning, weeding, intercropping
• Plant Breeding approach

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 Hamburg from October 20 to 21, 2008, please visit http://www.futureenergyevents.com/jatropha/.