Biotech Updates

Additional Funding for Jatropha Project in Guatemala

October 16, 2013
New article: http://www.biofuels-news.com/industry_news.php?item_id=6893

The energy crop company SG Biofuels (SGB) has signed a mandate letter with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the debt financing of its $76 million Jatropha bioenergy project in Guatemala. IDB will consider participating in the debt financing subject to its satisfactory analysis of the project.

Jatropha curcas is an energy crop that is native to the Guatemala region – grown on sub-prime land that is not desirable for food production. The 25,000-acre jatropha project aims to produce 6.2 million gallons of plant oil and 640,000 tons of biomass per year, while stimulating rural economic and social development, including the creation of more than 1,000 new jobs, improved infrastructure and health and education programs.

The project will utilize SGB's improved Jatropha hybrids – products of five years of breeding, drawing from a diverse germplasm that includes more than 12,000 genotypes.