Jatropha World Series » JatrophaWorld Jakarta Speakers’ Profiles

Profile: Hong Yan, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory

admin — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:48:49 +0000

Dr. Hong Yan is the Director (Plant Biotechnology) of Strategic Research Program of Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore. Since his Ph.D. in Peking Union Medical College (now part of TsingHua University), he has worked on Biotech industry and academic research for 18 years. His current research interest is plant biotechnology of forestry and bioenergy plants. He is an associate professor (adjunct) in Nanyang Technological University and a member of Genetic Modification Advisory Committee (GMAC) Singapore. He obtained his MBA degree in 2001 (NUS).

JatrophaWorld Jakarta 2008 Speaker
Day 2 – Thursday, 24th January, 2008
10:15 GENETICS MARKERS FOR BREEDING NEW VARIETIES
Micro Satellite and AFLP genetic markers
Evaluation of genetic diveristy of jatropha
Controlled breeding

The above mentioned expert shared his insights at JatrophaWorld Jakarta 2008, which was held on 23-24 January 2008 & welcomed over 350 Jatropha experts, industry players and entrepreneurs from 40 countries, making it the single largest Jatropha business forum in the world. JatrophaWorld Miami 2008, the second conference in the series will be held on 9-11 June 2008 in beautiful downtown Miami. Visit www.futureenergyevents.com/jatropha/attend to REGISTER TODAY for this exciting second conference in the series.

Profile: Roland A. Jansen, Mother Earth Investments AG

admin — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 07:31:10 +0000

Roland A..Jansen, from The Netherlands, is CEO of Mother Earth Investments AG. He holds a degree in Business Administration (lic.oec.HSG) from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He worked in New York, London and Zurich, Switzerland, as a financial consultant for Merrill Lynch and Cargill Investor Services. He has also been a Senior Vice President for the British bank Coutts & Co. in Zurich. From 1995 – 2000 Mr. Jansen was Director of Fund Management at the Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG, Vaduz, Principality of Liechtenstein. He was instrumental in developing the bank’s fund business from scratch to CHF 2.5 billion.

He is the author of : “Profits from Natural Resources”, John Wiley & Sons, New York. (1998) where he forecasted correctly the end of the bear markets and the new supercycle in commodities.

He appears regularly on the USA, Asian Pacific, British, French and German channels of Bloomberg Television to give his views on commodity trends.

He is the CIO of Mother Earth Investments AG in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland and Juno Mother Earth Asset Management LLC. in New York. The company issues the “Mother Earth Index”, a “second generation” global index of natural resources. The company manages assets in natural resources for banks, private clients, pension funds and family offices in several funds and certificates.

Mr. Jansen serves as the Honorary Consul for The Netherlands in Liechtenstein and is fluent in Dutch, German, French, English and Swiss German. He has a good working knowledge of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 2 – Thursday, January 24
09:05 HOW CAN INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS PARTICIPATE IN JATROPHA PROJECT?

Profile: Dr. V Praveen Rao, Manager, Agro-Knowledge Management Netafim Ltd (HQ)

admin — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:45:48 +0000

Dr. V Praveen Rao, Manager, Agro-Knowledge Management Netafim Ltd (HQ) has had a brilliant academic career with distinction both in India and Israel. He is specialized in soil-water-plant relations, crop yield-water modeling, drip irrigation and fertigation of biofuel crops with particular reference to sugarcane, corn, Jatropha and oilseed crops.

Presently Dr. Rao is a member of Global sugarcane crop team & Manager, Agro-Knowledge Management in Netafim and is promoting drip irrigated sugarcane, corn & Jatropha crop’s production in several countries. Further he is a recipient of several scholarships and Awards. In 2004 he was bestowed with a “Leadership Award” for promotion of drip irrigation technology in India by the Soil Conservation Society of India.

Dr. Rao as a Technical Advisor to the Government on water issues proposed a mega scale project known as Andhra Pradesh Microirrigation Project in Andhra Pradesh, to cover an area of 250,000 ha in 3 years. The project went ahead and after the huge success of this project, the Gujarat Government launched a similar project (50,000 ha). Both the projects are now running successfully in both the states.

The APMIP has set a benchmark in the country concerning micro-irrigation technology and productivity improvements. The above two projects have resulted in a coverage of about 20,000 ha of sugarcane & 1000 ha of Jatropha under drip irrigation.

As Professor of Agronomy, Dr. Rao has two decades of teaching and research experience under diverse agro-climatic situations and guided 15 PG students and 4 Ph.D. students majoring in agronomy and irrigation management. He has to his credit more than 106 research publications articles in National & International Journals and authored 18 books, 11 Project documents covering different aspects
of water management with emphasis on irrigation scheduling, water-yield relations, drip irrigation and fertigation of tropical & biofuel crops.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
11:15 JATROPHA: AGRO-TECHNICAL OPTIONS & ECONOMIC INDICES FOR SUSTAINABLE FEEDSTOCK PRODUCTION

Profile: Evita H. Legowo, National Team for Biofuel Development, Indonesia

admin — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:56:51 +0000

Dr.-Ing. Evita H. Legowo has many years of experience in Oil and Gas Research and Development. She has also been involved in the research of bioethanol and biodiesel since 1991. She was a member of the Indonesian Delegation for World Trade Organization (WTO) Meetings on Energy Services since 2003.

She graduated first in the class from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) with a major in Chemistry in 1974; a Doctor-Ing. on Petroleum Chemistry Technische Universitaet Clausthal, Germany in 1991. In 2005, she graduated as the top student in the Course of Government-Military Training at National Resilience Institute the Republic of Indonesia.

Before her current appointment, she was in the Research & Development Center for Oil & Gas Technology (LEMIGAS). From July 2006 onwards, she is Assistant to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources for Human Resources and Technology, and 1st Secretary for the National Team for Biofuel Development.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
09:10 STATUS OF RECENT JATROPHA & BIODIESEL INVESTMENTS IN INDONESIA

Profile: Dr. P. V. Sane, Jain Irrigation

admin — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:38:03 +0000

Jain Irrigation are manufacturers of Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation Systems and Components, PVC, Polyethylene (HDPE, MDPE) & Polypropylene Piping Systems, Plastic Sheets (PVC & PC sheets), Dehydrated Onions and Vegetables, Processed Fruits, Tissue Culture, Hybrid & Grafted Plants, Greenhouses, Poly and Shade Houses, Bio-fertilizers, Solar Water Heating Systems and Solar Photovoltaic Appliances (Solar lighting systems).

Initiated work on Jatropha since 2003 and till date established plantation on 84 ha under different soil types, topographic and irrigation conditions and also planted 5000 Karanj plants on farm boundaries and hill terraces. Established a Collection of 284 Jatropha curcas accessions and six Jatropha species from 13 Indian states and 6 other countries. Germplasm evaluation & selection and extensive hybridization (including interspecific) program aided with molecular markers are under way. Agronomic trials in Western and Southern India to determine planting density and systems, irrigation method & quantity, fertilizer and pruning requirements, identification and management of pest & diseases are in progress. Developed Tissue Culture protocol for commercial Jatropha micro propagation and performance evaluation trial of micropprogated plants is underway. Operating 7 kl/day capacity multi feed biodiesel pilot plant.

Speaker’s Profile
Dr. P. V. Sane is a Ph D (1968) in Plant Biochemistry from Canada. He worked at the University of California, Berkeley, USA following his PhD and then joined Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai, India as a Scientific Officer in 1972 heading the Agricultural Biochemistry Section. Dr. Sane shifted to the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow in 1983 and was its Director from 1984 until he retired in 1997. He is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy as also of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India. He has been a consultant to Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, Jalgaon, India since 1993 and has been working as the Principal Advisor, Agribiotech R and D for this company for the past 5 years. Dr. Sane has over 150 publications in the area of plant physiology, biochemistry and plant biotechnology.

*Important Change* — Dr. P. V. Sane will no longer be speaking at JatrophaWorld 2008

Profile: Dr. De Greyt Wim, Desmet Ballestra

admin — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:53:55 +0000

Desmet Ballestra is the world leader in the fields of engineering and supply of plants and equipment for the edible oils and fats industry, the detergent, surfactants and related chemical industry, the oleochemical and biodiesel industry, the soap and glycerine industry. Desmet Ballestra benefits from the great worldwide reputation, thanks to 60 years unequalled experience, a strong R&D capacity and most extensive customer references in the industry.

The group has a network of 15 local subsidiaries throughout the world and a track record of setting up more than 6,000 processing units in 148 countries. Desmet Ballestra has now an integrated allowing us to coordinate our worldwide activities making the best use of the very important technical, technologies and commercial synergies existing between our operations and to provide competitive services, plants and equipment based on latest technologies and globally sourced. Technical innovation and privileged customer relationship is the key strategy of the Desmet Ballestra Group, which will be able to provide to the customers the best technologies trough an integrated international network of companies.

Speaker’s Profile
De Greyt Wim is R&D Manager at Desmet-Ballestra. He graduated in 1988 as Engineer Food Technology from the Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences at the University of Ghent. He later obtained a PhD degree at same University in 1998 with a study on the “Effect of Physical Refining on Selected Minor Components in Vegetable Oils”. Dr. Wim joined De Smet in 1998, first as R&D project leader and from 2000 as R&D Manager. Today, he is managing the Desmet-Ballestra R&D Centre located in Brussels, Belgium. At the R&D centre, a group of 15 specialized R&D staff work on different R&D projects in the areas of oilseed extraction, oil refining and modification and biodiesel production.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 2 – Thursday, 24th January, 2008
14:05 JATROPHA OIL EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY – MECHANICAL VS. SOLVENT

The current high prices of the traditional biodiesel feedstocks (rapeseed oil, soybean oil, palm oil) have put the biodiesel processing industry under serious pressure and have urged the need for new, preferably non-edible feedstocks that can become available in large quantities and at an acceptable cost price. Together with algae oil, jatropha oil is considered to be the most promising and sustainable biodiesel feedstock for the future.
Jatropha oil is extracted from the seeds of jatropha curcas which is a drought resistant tree that grows on poor soils and wastelands which cannot be used for the cultivation of traditional agricultural crops.

Presentation Overview

Jatropha seeds contain ± 30% oil and can be separated in a fiber-rich hull fraction (± 40% of the seed) and a kernel fraction in which almost all the oil is concentrated. Hence, the oil content of the kernel can be very high (± 50%).

Jatropha seeds are processed today mostly artisanally in small local plants. The oil is recovered from the seeds with mechanical expellers that are able to extract 70 -75% of the oil. As a by-product, partially deoiled jatropha meal with ± 10% residual oil is obtained. Due to the presence of toxins (phorbol esters), this product can not be used as used in animal feed. It seems to have some potential as bio-fertilizer or can also be used as biomass for energy production.

Higher oil yields can be obtained either via a full or double mechanical pressing or via pre-pressing followed by a solvent extraction. Pilot scale trials have shown that more than 90% of the jatropha oil can be extracted from jatropha seeds by combined pre-pressing of partially dehulled seeds followed by a solvent extraction of the pressed cake. The extracted meal has a low oil content (< 1%) and high crude protein concentration (but will only be applicable in animal feed after proper detoxification.

Jatropha oil is a rather unsaturated with typically ± 35% linoleic acid, 40-42% oleic acid and 20-22% saturated fatty acids (15-17% palmitic and 5-7% stearic acid) resulting in an Iodine Value ranging between 95 and 105. Good quality crude jatropha oil has a rather low phosphatide content (< 0.25%) and a free fatty acid content comparable to that of crude palm oil (3-5%). It has usually very low sulphur levels (< 5 ppm) and contains no other critical impurities that can interfere during the biodiesel production process. Pretreatment of crude jatropha oil prior to transesterification may consist of an acid degumming process or silica treatment in combination with a physical deacidification.

Transesterification of properly pretreated Jatropha oil should give a biodiesel that meets the international quality standards. Jatropha biodiesel has a CFPP value that will vary normally between 0°C and -2°C which makes that it has slightly worse cold flow properties compared to rapeseed and soy biodiesel, but still a far better cold stability that biodiesel obtained from more saturated feedstocks like palm oil or tallow.

Profile: Mansor bin Puteh, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI)

admin — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:21:25 +0000

Mansor bin Puteh is a Research Officer at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) since 1977. He is an agronomist by training, obtained his B. Agric. Sc (Hons) from Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (currently known as Universiti Putra Malaysia) and Masters Degree from University of the Philippines at Los Banos. At present, he also serves as the Deputy Director in Rice and Industrial Crops Research Center of MARDI, where R&D program on jatropha cultivation is being carried-out.

As a researcher, he has had experiences working with a variety of economically important crops including cocoa, coconut, rice, essential oils and herbs. He was the coordinator for R&D on herbs at the Research Center till recently when his work is mainly focus on new/potential crops particularly plants for bio-fuel, fiber, sweetener and colorants. His main research interest is on upstream production system encompassing crop propagation, cultural practices and fertilizer management. He is also involved in technology promotion and transfer works to the private sector and farmers.

He actively contributes his knowledge and experience through various working group in the organizational and national level. He has also led and involved in a number of consultation works especially those related to herbs and new crops.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
09:40 ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVES AS A SMALLHOLDER CROP

Socio-economic environment of the smallholders (Malaysian case study).
Opportunity costs of cultivating jatropha instead of other established crops especially oil palm and rubber.
Technical and marketing constraints at the smallholders level (planting materials, agronomic practices, pest and disease management and post-harvest handling).

Abstract of Presentation
Smallholders’ sector plays a very important role in the Malaysian agriculture, utilizing about one-half of the cultivated land and growing various industrial and food crops. The introduction of jatropha (Jatropha curcas) in recent years, offers an additional option of crops for commercial planting by this sector. However, there are pre-requisites for success for any introduced crop under the Malaysian condition, such as income generation capability, extent of labor and land requirements, availability of marketing channels and compatibility with the socio-cultural system of the farmers. At present, the most established crops of choice, in both good and marginal agro-ecological areas, are oil palm and rubber. With the current favorable commodity price and the holding size of about 2-4 ha, Malaysian smallholders enjoy a very comfortable income from these crops; their net return is in the region of RM6,700 – 6,800/ha/year3 and the return to the family labor is about RM7,700 – 8,800/ha/year. Based on dry seed yield of 6 t/ha/year and the price of RM500/t of dry seed, cultivation of jatropha does not give any net income to the farmers, only the return to the family labor. To be competitive to oil palm and rubber, the yield level (or price) of jatropha should be 3 times higher than the current estimate. As to the labor intensiveness, jatropha requires about 105 man-days during the full maturity stage, as compared to 40 man-days for oil palm and 80 man-days for rubber. Since most of the Malaysian smallholders are 45-76 years old and the daily wage of farm workers is relatively expensive (about RM25/man-day) and labor is not readily available, this higher requirement for labor makes jatropha less attractive against other crops. There are ominous technology gaps along the value chain in jatropha cultivation, particularly pertaining to high-yielding variety/clone, production agronomy, mechanization and pests and disease management. Improving the yield to ensure that smallholders have a reasonable income and to meet feedstock requirements for the biofuel industry is a big challenge and will be crucial as a ‘Pull’ factor towards smallholders venture into jatropha cultivation.

Profile: Dr. Sudheer Shetty, Labland Biotechs Pvt. Ltd.

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:52:01 +0000

Sudheer Shetty is founder of the first plant biotech company of Mysore which has been successfully running since 1994. He is Chairman and MD of Labland Biodiesel company which is focussed on Jatropha-based biodiesel activities. He has built a strong technical team that supports the International Jatropha Technology Centre centred at Mysore, India. The company has been recognized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, for carrying out tissue culture work on Jatropha. The National Accreditation Agency, Govt. of India, have certified the tissue culture and biotech unit of the company. Labland Biodiesel has been short-listed as the technology partner of a few international companies for carrying out research and establishing Jatropha plantations in different parts of the world.

About Labland Biodiesel
Labland Biodiesel is a Mysore based Private Limited Company. Since the year 2002, the Company is active in Biodiesel and Jatropha curcas-based Research and Development activities headed by its Chairman and Managing Director, Dr. Sudheer Shetty. The Company is reinforced with a strong dependable, sustainable technical team with a focused vision and mission to achieve its goals. The Company’s main emphasis has been to develop improved and newer varieties of Jatropha curcas needed for successful energy plantation globally.

The Company has set up an International Jatropha Technology Center (IJTC) to cater to the global demand for high quality planting material. A strong team of well-experienced scientists and researchers form the backbone of IJTC. The Technology Centre is carrying out exhaustive research on various aspects of Jatropha curcas and other oil yielding crops, which focuses on development of appropriate agronomical techniques, disease management methodologies, seed science and technology for production of certified seeds, selection of pure/parental lines for genetics and breeding work, hybrid seed production etc.

The Company is in the process of collecting Jatropha curcas accessions from different agro climatic zones from within and outside the country. At present about 375 accessions are available in its experimental plot. The selected accessions are being used for developing pure line selections as well as development of hybrids. Establishment of a Jatropha curcas germplasm bank under in vitro conditions is also under progress.

The IJTC of the Company is imparting training in seed quality testing, establishing a healthy nursery, nursery management, setting up large plantations, cultivation methods, disease diagnosis and management methods, type of pruning, harvesting and storage.

Clonal propagation of Jatropha curcas of global selections is being carried out through advanced techniques of Plant Tissue Culture. Jatropha curcas plants are being produced by axillary shoot proliferation method and direct organogenesis. The technique is also being adopted for clonal improvement, hybrid development and establishing a Jatropha curcas germplasm bank.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
14:40 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR IMPROVED PLANTING MATERIAL AND PLANTATIONS

Selection of quality planting materials
Clonal propogation using tissue culture
Professional plantation management: Disease control, Irrigation, Pre/post harvest management of seeds
R&D in progress: Increase in the seed yield & oil content; Disease resistance; Value addition to the by-products

Profile: Thor Hesselberg, ScanFuel AS

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:51:07 +0000

Thor Hesselberg is the founder and owner of BioFuel Invest AS and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ScanFuel AS. ScanFuel has initiated the development on a large scale Jatropha plantation in West-Africa. He has a Master of Science in TQM and B.A. in Organization & Marketing from Växjö University in Sweden. He is has an entrepreneurial focus and have worked with several start up companies until last summer when he initiated his private investment company and subsequently founding of ScanFuel.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
09:40 CAPTURING THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Revenue / Cost Analysis
Site Selection Criteria (Africa vs. Asia/South America)
Pros & cons of large scale plantation

Profile: Peter Cheng, Van Der Horst Biodiesel Pte Ltd

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:50:14 +0000

Van Der Horst Biodiesel is a Joint Venture company between Van Der Horst Engineering and the Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering (IESE), a technological arm of the Nanyang Technological Institute (NTU) of Singapore. Van Der Horst Biodiesel is vertically integrated in the production of Biodiesel from “seed to tank”. Van Der Horst Biodiesel will have its own Agronomy on Jatropha Curcas a non-food crop, employing the best strain most suitable for planting at each location and mass propagation by tissue culture for the best yield. The refineries utilize an advance process technology which operates at low temperature and pressure, thus achieving low production cost.

Speaker’s Profile
Peter Cheng has achieved an unbroken career span of 38 years. The first 10 years was with various Shipyards in Singapore; 6 years of which as a Project Manager for the construction of Supply Vessels, Tugs and Barges.

Peter Cheng has been working as a Chief Executive Officer with the Van Der Horst Group of Companies for 6 years now and is fully in charge of Van Der Horst Biodiesel’s operation. He is responsible for establishing and incorporating various Jatropha Curcas Plantations within the Asian Countries.

Peter spent the next 20 years with a large engineering company dealing with the product sale and installation for the Water, Sewage, Petroleum, Gas and Electricity Industries, the last 4 years of which as its Chief Executive Officer. He had also successfully executed the installation of projects such as Sewage Pumping Stations, Tidal Gates for Waterworks, Gas Regulating Stations, Compressed-Gas Boosting System and Reverse Osmosis System.

Another 2 years was spent with a Public-Listed Company in Singapore, as the Managing Director of seven of its subsidiary companies, among which with 2 manufacturing plants factories in China and 5 Engineering Trading outfits in Singapore and Malaysia.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
15:45 INTEGRATING PLANTATION & REFINERY

Strategies in expanding the scale of jatropha plantation
Plantation site location (from Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, to China, India)
Plantation ownership models
Ensuring supply of plantation materials
Storage and logistics of seeds/crude jatropha oil
Refinery location selection criteria
Costs and economics

Profile: P Krishnamurthy, KYOTOenergy

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:48:25 +0000

KYOTOenergy is an independent “Greenhouse Gases emission reduction” project developer specializing in renewable energy, energy efficiency and waste management. KYOTOenergy focuses on the development, trading and management of emission reductions originating from projects with strong fundamentals that contribute to sustainable development and benefit to the local communities, environment and preservation of biodiversity.

Speaker’s Profile
Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy is the Director, Asia Pacific, Kyotoenergy Pte Ltd. He holds a B.Sc in Mechanical Engineering from the University College of Engineering, Orissa, India. PK has more than 27 years of work experience and has held various senior positions such as Head of Business Development, General Manager and Vice-President.

During his tenure, PK has helped several companies, from a wide spectrum of industries, to undertake efficient waste management programs and energy efficiency programs that contribute towards reduction in the emissions of CO2 and other GH Gases. PK currently lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is actively involved with the development of projects in the region that are aimed to mitigate GH Gas emissions.

At Kyotoenergy, PK is responsible for developing the CDM business in South-East Asia. He is familiar with different sectors of Industries in the region and has worked on various renewable energy, energy efficiency and biomass projects in the region. He travels frequently in the region to promote CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) initiatives and activities on the mitigation of CO2 and GHG emissions. PK also contributes as a speaker in various seminars on CDM and its related activities.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 2 – Thursday, 24th January, 2008
10:45 CDM & CARBON MARKET OUTLOOK

Voluntary and Regulated Markets
CDM Flexible Mechanism (CER)
Price Development of EUA/CER
Additionality, SD Criteria
Registration Process
Small scale / Large Scale Projects, Criteria for eligibility, Sectors, Methodology
“Reward Vs Risks” is it worth the game?

Overview of Presentation
In this presentation, PK is going to provide insights in to Carbon Markets and CDM as a process and the business opportunities that it offers to the Industry in general. PK also endeavours to evaluate the financial returns of various CDM projects with regard to investment as compared to the returns from Carbon Revenues. PK also takes a look at CDM market beyond 2012. To provide a balanced view on the subject, PK also provides the various risks that are associated with CDM projects and in the end concluding as to what critical parameters must be kept in mind while embarking on a CDM project.

Profile: Dr. Bambang Prastowo, Indonesian Center for Estate Crops Research & Development (ICERD)

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:45:39 +0000

Indonesian Center for Estate Crops Research and Development (ICERD) is a national research center under the Indonesian Agency for Agriculture Research and Development (IAARD), the Ministry of Agriculture, Republic of Indonesia. One of the mandates of ICERD is to provide jatropha technology, up-stream technology to down-stream technology, especially to provide jatropha cultivation technology and to disseminate the technology to the users.

The research findings of activities related to jatropha and activity of ICERD since 2005 are :
(1) germplasm for exploration of jatropha curcas in Indonesia,
(2) map of land and climate suitability,
(3) selected of good needs of jatropha curcas,
(4) establishment of jatropha curcas mother seed gardens in West Java, Central Java, and East Java,
(5) several cultivation technology,
(6) food selected provenances/superior or seed : IP-1 and IP-2,
(7) machines for peeling jatropha seeds, and
(8) training for farmers, extension workers, entrepreneurs, etc.

ICERD is located in Bogor and has four National Research Institute.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Thursday, 24th January, 2008
09:05 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION IN INDONESIA

Jatropha species selection
Propagation and farming practices
Pest and disease prevention
Seed and oil yields; heating value
Intercropping
Utilization technologies for jatropha oil and seedcake
Ensuring supply of plantation material and availability of oil

Profile: Dr. Hong Yan, SRP Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:43:19 +0000

Speaker’s Profile
Dr. Hong Yan, Director (Plant Biotechnology) of Strategic Research Program of Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore. Since his Ph.D. in Peking Union Medical College (now part of TsingHua University), Dr. Hong has worked on Biotech industry and academic research for 18 years. His current research interest is plant biotechnology of forestry and bioenergy plants. He is an associate professor (adjunct) in Nanyang Technological University and a member of Genetic Modification Advisory Committee (GMAC) Singapore. He obtained his MBA degree in 2001 (NUS).

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
11:55 GENETIC MARKERS FOR BREEDING NEW VARIETIES

Microsatellite and AFLP genetic markers
Evaluation of genetic diversity of jatropha
Controlled breeding

Profile: Dr. Stefan Schillberg, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:41:37 +0000

Dr. Stefan Schillberg is head of the department for Plant Biotechnology at the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology in Aachen, Germany (50 employees). He received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the RWTH Aachen University in 1994. Current activities in his laboratory focus on production of pharmaceutical protein in plants, metabolic engineering of plant biosynthesis pathways, phytoremediation and the engineering of novel agronomic traits in crop plants. Dr. Schillberg has written 39 peer-reviewed scientific publications, published 30 book chapters and holds 9 filed or granted patents. At the managerial level, Dr. Schillberg has extensive experience in project acquisition and management, technology and information management, the supervision of large groups, marketing, strategic planning and filing intellectual property.

Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME). Over the last three years the Fraunhofer IME has established a brand new 33 million Euro institute building in Aachen, Germany, which was opened in spring 2006.

This institute comprises 5400 m2 of laboratory and office space and 1000 m2 of greenhouses. The Fraunhofer IME maintains the most advanced equipment for molecular biology research, protein chemistry, protein engineering, protein production, protein purification and analysis as well as analysis of metabolites including fatty acids. The Fraunhofer is equipped to provide customers and research partners with support that ranges from plant and animal tissue culture to high throughput DNA sequence analysis and biorobotic project automation and biochip development.

Its investment in infrastructure ensures that all major life science technologies are available on the IME campus, enabling us to offer a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to our project partners.

The Department of Plant Biotechnology has exploited enzyme overexpression and inactivation using plant-derived antibodies to manipulate metabolic pathways in transgenic plants. Importantly, metabolic pathways have been partially established in non-native cell compartments resulting in significantly improved metabolite accumulation.

The department has received major funding for projects in the field of industrial biotechnology with the aim of using biocatalysis and biotransformation to provide building blocks for chemical applications. In this context, the department has enlarged its processing and analytical capacity. New activities focus on the genetic engineering of Jatropha and the establishment of suitable transformation procedures for this plant.

Overview of Presentation
Traditionally Jatropha plants are used to reclaim land and simultaneously produce feedstuff, soap, cosmetics, pesticides and anti-cancer medicine. Recently, Jatropha received much attention for its high content of seed oil. Jatropha seed oil possesses a high potential as diesel oil substitute due to its higher flash point and cetane number as well as the excellent cold flow properties when compared e.g. to palm oil. Consequently, Jatropha has been exploited for biodiesel production and the first commercial production plant has been established in Hyderabad, India. But the commercial-scale cultivation of Jatropha, which has not previously been grown as a crop, raises several significant challenges. Compared to other oil crops biomass productivity is rather low. Several research groups work on the improvement of Jatropha through conventional selection or breeding programs. Application of biotechnology will expedite this process. Importantly, biomass and oil yield can be improved by exploiting genetic engineering focusing on the optimization of enzymes involved in oil biosynthesis and biomass production. However, a prerequisite for the implementation of genetic manipulation of Jatropha is the establishment of a robust and efficient transformation procedure. The presentation will focus on recent developments in establishing a transformation procedure for Jatropha and present strategies to improve oil quality and yield by genetic engineering.

Profile: Dr Bobby Tee, Asiatic Center for Genome Technology, Sdn. Bhd.

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:37:51 +0000

Bobby Tee Ph.D., Malaysian, obtained his PhD. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis. During his career, Dr Tee has served in various international organizations including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Iran and Bhutan as well as consultant in various local government agencies in the field of agricultural development. In 1984, Dr Tee was awarded the coveted Rolex Award for Enterprise for introducing perennial asparagus crop in the mountain region of Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.In 2006, Dr Tee joined D1 Oils plc as agronomist and traveled widely to collect jatropha genetic materials for crop improvement. In late 2006, Dr Tee was recruited by Genting Sanyen Berhad, Malaysia for extensive development of jatropha. Currently Dr Tee has been assigned to Asiatic Center for Genome Technology, a joint venture company between Synthetic Genomics of California and Asiatic Developments of Malaysia involved in research and development of jatropha as an alternate source of green energy.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
14:05 JATROPHA CULTIVATION – FROM FIELD TO HARVESTING

Increasing Productivity & Yield – Agronomy & Genetics
Propagation techniques
Soil and climatic condition
Nutrients management
Intercropping
Pest and disease prevention
Irrigation systems
Mechanised harvesting

Profile: Bhaskar Chalasani, Naturol

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:05:00 +0000

Bhaskar Chalasani, Managing Director & CEO, Naturol assumes overall responsibility for the day- to-day administration of the company. He holds Bachelor of Engineering degree from Nagarjuna University, India and Master of Science and MBA degrees from Wayne State University, Michigan, USA and certification in ERP application in Manufacturing. He began his professional career as an Advanced Engineering Consultant with Ford Motor Company in the USA. After 6 years of overseas experience, he joined Coastal Papers in India and was part of its senior management team. Bhaskar took active part in the expansion and modernization project of Coastal Papers which gave him significant insights into project implementation activities.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
10:15 FEEDSTOCK STRATEGY & ROADMAP OF BIODIESEL PRODUCER

Why jatropha?
Economics of biodiesel production using jatropha oil
Oil extraction and refining technology.