D1 strikes biodiesel growth deal in Africa.Green fuel producer D1 Oils has extended its influence in Africa by clinching a land deal in Swaziland. The Middlesbrough company is setting up a global network of operations to make biodiesel, a blend of conventional diesel and vegetable oil which cuts carbon emissions. D1 has established a series of joint ventures to carry out an extensive programme of planting jatropha curcas Jatropha curcas or Barbados nut or Physic nut is a poisonous shrub belonging to the Euphorbiaceae or spurge family. The plant, originating in Central America, is mainly grown in Asia and in Africa, where it is known as Pourghère. , the crop which it is using as its main source of vegetable oil. It announced yesterday that its subsidiary, D1 Oils Swaziland, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a legal document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action and may not imply a legal commitment. (MOU (Minutes Of Usage) A metric used to compute billing and/or statistics for telephone calls or other network use. ) with the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland to plant jatropha curcas on 20,000 hectares of land. Planting will begin this month in the Middleveld and Lowveld regions of the south-east African country. The deal allows for planting to increase up to 50,000 hectares. D1 has also signed a further MOU with World Vision, a leading Swazi Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO NGO abbr. nongovernmental organization Noun 1. NGO - an organization that is not part of the local or state or federal government nongovernmental organization ), to plant an additional 3,000 hectares. Planting under both agreements will be carried out by contract with D1 providing technical advice and seeds and enter into agreements with farmers to buy the harvested seed. Planting is expected to be conducted over the next three years. D1 has operated in Swaziland since 2005 and currently has around 400 hectares of jatropha planted in the Croydon and Hluti areas of the country as well as a jatropha nursery in Hluti to produce seedlings. The company plans to establish its African Regional Development Centre for research into the cultivation of jatropha in Hluti. D1 Oils chief executive Elliott Mannis said: "These agreements demonstrate both our ability to expand our agronomy agronomy (əgrŏn`əmē), branch of agriculture dealing with various physical and biological factors—including soil management, tillage, crop rotation, breeding, weed control, and climate—related to crop production. operations in Southern Africa and the depth of support we are receiving from the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland to build a sustainable jatropha-based biodiesel industry. "We believe that rural communities in Swaziland stand to benefit significantly from the increase in rural employment. "Our operations have already created over 200 jobs in communities that previously depended on subsistence farming." D1 has extensive interests in India and in Middlesbrough it aims to reach full production capacity of 220,000 tonnes of fuel a year by the end of 2007. |
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