Jatropha Conference & Expo
Desert Center, CA - Farming Biodiesel Inc. hosted the first Jatropha Conference & Expo at their working farm located in Desert Center, Calif., from May 15 through 17, 2009. With more than 60 participants attending the Jatropha Conference & Expo, Farm Director Michael Reardon offered live demonstrations and tours throughout the 320-acre farm as well as detailed explanations of Jatropha farming processes including seed and field preparation, planting and irrigation systems. Attendees also heard presentations from guest speakers on a variety of subjects relating to the farming and production of Jatropha, green energy, technologies and industry trends.
Kicking off Friday’s seminar was Don Haller of Micro Soil Inc. who lectured on the development and implementation of sustainable organic production systems and the introduction of organic enzymes to improve yields. “Even though the turnout was relatively small,” says Haller, “the quality of the guests was quite high and they seemed to be there for all the right reasons.” Conference attendees echoed this sentiment citing their opportunity to network with other Jatropha and green energy industry professionals, land owners, farmers and academic researchers.
Jatropha Conference & Expo guest speakers also included, Carlos H. Bueno, a leading biomass expert from Colombia, who discussed his new process for removing Jatropha oil from the seed curd, post-production. Also visiting from Colombia, Dr. Luis F Campuzano Duque presented his data on Jatropha genetics, species variations and examples of South American plantations. Richard Palmer, President of Global Clean Energy Holdings discussed the growth, harvesting and the business of Jatropha including the operating a successful Jatropha business.
Farming Biodiesel, Inc. co-op member Trevor Neves discussed the benefits of becoming a cooperative member and his experiences farming Jatropha in the Americas. Bryan Aivazian from Robona, discussed automated farming processes as related to green fuel stocks including the use of robotics for a variety of agricultural uses and GeneraSol’s Juan Carvajales discussed solar energy systems for agricultural applications. Finally, Max Lint and Rick McKibben from BEI International presented a live demonstration of their automated agricultural harvesters for Jatropha and other green energy bio fuel crops.
“We were very pleased with the interest and dedication shown to both Jatropha and green energies by all who attended the conference,”
Farming Biodiesel, Inc. is a social farming organization employing green technologies with a variety of Jatropha farming methods to produce bio-fuel stock at a low operating cost, while maintaining environmental sensitivity.
Working towards the goal of eliminating petroleum use, Farming Biodiesel, Inc. integrates solar power and alternative energies alongside the tending of fish and livestock and the raising of vegetable crops to make our Jatropha farm virtually self-sufficient.
http://www.farmingbiodiesel.com
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
