Jatropha developments to be highlighted at world conference
By Susanne Retka Schill
Web exclusive posted May 28, 2008 at 5:05 p.m. CST
The Jatropha World 2008 conference in Miami June 9-11 promises to bring participants up to date on jatropha developments internationally. A similar conference was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, last winter. Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture Alberto Cardenas Jimenez will kick off the conference with his keynote address describing developments in jatropha cultivation in Mexico.
The conference will highlight jatropha developments in several countries around the world, with speakers from India, Brazil, the Philippines, Madagascar, Norway, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
Conference speakers include: Jon McLea, director of agricultural development for Imperium Renewables Inc., who will speak about establishing a commercial scale jatropha plantation; Charles Fishel, chief executive officer of Abundant Biofuels Corp., who is interested in jatropha as an economic development tool for Third World countries; and Russell Teall, president of Biodiesel Industries Inc., who has done jatropha research in India, as well as in Santa Barbara, Calif., where he is researching cold tolerance issues on a test plot.
There will also be panel discussions covering investor concerns, plantation issues, agronomy, genetics, harvesting, processing technologies and sustainability issues. ''
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