Seeds of bush can be alternative to oil

As it tackles the growing environmental threat of waste rubber, Petra Group is also active on a number of other fronts, including renewable energy. The company is looking into the biofuels market with plans to set up large-scale farming of the Jatropha plant.
Jatropha is a bush that grows wild in the West Indies and tropics. Its seeds can be crushed to create an alternative fuel substitute to conventional oil and gas.

One of its advantages is that it is outside the food chain. Some other biofuels depend on corn or other crops as feedstock, which depletes supplies available for human consumption. Interest in the biofuels sector has soared as oil prices have shot through the roof.

Petra Group president and chief executive Datuk Vinod Sekhar says the intention is to give small plot holders in developing states a chance to grow a crop which they can sell for a profit at harvest time. “We give them the materials and teach them how to grow it and leave it for them to cultivate. Eight months later, it is ready for harvest. Impoverished families now have a livelihood and land to build a home in.”

He has identified states in and around the Caribbean as possible locations for growing the jatropha plant, making sure that each farmer and community maintains a stake in the bigger biofuels project.

“There is a positive socio-economic impact all along the chain, and at the same time, it is a commercially viable business project,” he says. “It’s all about making sure that everyone has a vested interest.”