The SG Biofuels/RSB pilot is evaluating the practicality and usability of RSB sustainability standards applied against a 1,400 acre (600 hectare) Jatropha community-farming model established by SG Biofuels in Guatemala. Guatemala is home to SG Biofuels’ Genetic Resource Center, containing what SG claims is the largest and most diverse library of Jatropha genetic material. MORE

Volvo has delivered more than 4,000 buses to the BRT-systems of Curitiba, Bogotá, Guatemala City, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile and San Salvador. Volvo launched the world’s largest bus chassis at the FetransRio exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Volvo is a leading supplier of buses for high passenger capacity transport systems, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The new biarticulated chassis, Gran Artic 300, is 30 meters in length and can carry up to 300 passengers. MORE

Guatemala. sales of hybrid SUVs and other fuel efficient vehicles will prove interesting to watch this year, especially if fuel prices remain relatively low. Expert predictions about where oil and gas prices are headed vary widely. Some expect both to remain steady due to global economic conditions while others point to the return of $3/gallon gas (in the states) fueled mainly by an increase in foreign demand. MORE

SG Biofuels has introduced JMax 100, an elite Jatropha cultivar optimized for growing conditions in Guatemala, with projected yields 100% greater than existing commercial varieties. SG Biofuels, a bioenergy crop company developing and producing elite seeds of Jatropha, has established a strategic partnership with Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited to research and develop a model to process Jatropha seeds into a biofuel feedstock. MORE

Others are sugarcane molasses ethanol from Guatemala; mixed feedstock to biodiesel from Texas; and a new ARB-staff-developed pathway for North American landfill gas. is a company based in Guatemala that produces and exports ethanol derived from sugarcane molasses. California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff has posted four new Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) pathways to the LCFS web site. Earlier post.) MORE

Financing was announced for projects in Costa Rica, Dominica, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Tanzania, and the United States, while projects in drilling and start-of-construction phases made headway in Chile, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Montserrat, The Philippines, Rwanda, and Zambia. MORE

SG Biofuels, a sustainable plant oil company specializing in the development of Jatropha as a low-cost, sustainable source of oil, has launched JMax 100, a proprietary cultivar of Jatropha optimized for growing conditions in Guatemala with yields 100% greater than existing varieties. MORE

Earlier this year SG Biofuels introduced JMax 100, its first elite cultivar optimized for Guatemala with projected yields 100% greater than existing commercial varieties, resulting in a 300% increase in profits. SG Biofuels, a bioenergy crop company developing and producing elite seeds of Jatropha, has established a proprietary technology for large-scale Jatropha hybrid seed production. MORE