Company profile - Energy Africa Ltd. and Energy Agriculture Uganda Ltd.

Energy Africa (EA) Ltd was established in 2006, and started operations the same year. A subsidiary in Uganda,

Energy Agriculture Uganda (EUA) Ltd, was registered in November 2007.

Jatropha curcas is the plant of choice for bio-fuel production due to its longevity (forty years), its relative ease of planting and growing, and its unattractiveness to browsing animals. It does not compete with food crops as it is not edible, and grows in rock/dry areas with limited potential for viable food production.

The aim of Energy Africa Ltd and Energy Agriculture Uganda Ltd is to increase income for local farming communities; to produce an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels; and to create a commercially viable and successful industry. Selling soap, oil and related products.

The Kenya and Uganda operations are led by board of directors. The day to day operation is done through a managing director and field managers. Both companies are utilizing out-grower approach to grow Jatropha. The plan is that eventually the local Jatropha farmers will be involved in the ownership of the companies.

Currently the companies focus is on improving Jatorpha agricultural practices and establishing optimal pruning regimes for Jatropha. Development of improved planting material in the form of selected seeds/cuttings/seedlings/graftings for more productive Jatropha plants is important as yield will determine the commercial viability of bio-fuels and much attention is given to identify conditions for adequate Jatropha yield.

The companies may be selling seeds, seedlings and cuttings to other stakeholders in the Jatropha field for revenue during the next years.

Since knowledge about Jatropha curcas is limited, collaboration with various sources of competence is important. The Institute for Plant and Environmental Sciences (IPM), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) works on propagation of Jatropha with input from Energy Africa Ltd. In Kenya Energy Africa Ltd is working closely with a UNDP/GEF funded Jatropha project in Kwale. In Moyo, Uganda collaboration with civic leaders is the key.

Lately the interrest for using the jatropha plant has increased. On December 30, 2008 ANZ - Air New Zealand - made a successful test flight using jet fuel blended with bio fuel, made from the jatropha plant. One of the Boing 747 engines was powered with the blend when flying over Aukland without any problems. To learn more about this incident click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq3RoDwEnT4
Japan Air commited a successful test too, read more here: http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/01/30/japan-airlines-biofuels-flight-test-a-success-camelina-algae-jatropha-used-in-b50-biofuel-mix-fuel-economy-higher-than-jet-a/
Also Continental Airlines made a successful test, read more here: http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/01/08/continental-airlines-tests-aviation-biofuel-first-use-of-algae-first-us-biofuel-test-flight-first-two-engine-flight/

More to learn about the Jatropha plant on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatropha_oil

Diani - Jan 2010

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