27 oktober 2010

The University of Groningen will host a conference on Jatropha on 1 and 2 November. Experts from around the world will come to Groningen to discuss current research and use.

Jatropha curcas produces a nutlike seed from which oil can be pressed that can be used for making biofuel. Professor of Chemical Technology Erik Heeres of the University of Groningen will host the conference. His whole world now revolves around the plant. 'It's basically a weed,' he explains, 'a kind of two to three-metre high shrub that grows in all sorts of places in the tropics and subtropics.'

The research he and his colleagues in Wageningen and Indonesia are conducting is funded by the KNAW. Read more on the University of Groningen website.