A New Oilseed Crop is Making Gains for Nuseed
A new oilseed crop called carinata is making gains for Australian agribusiness Nuseed, who has negotiated an agreement with French biofuels giant Saipol to use the crop as a feedstock.
Carinata is a non-GMO oilseed cover crop developed by Nuseed in South America that is similar to mustard seed that has been proven suitable to make jet fuel. In early trials conducted in 2018 in Australia, carinata generated yields that were on par with other mainstream oilseed crops such as canola at 3 tons per hectare.
Under the terms of the agreement Saipol will accept the oilseed as a feedstock for certified low carbon oil for renewable oils, and although not suitable for human consumption, the by-product meal will be used in livestock rations.
Nuseed will oversee a first phase of production in South America, with the possibility to expand into new regions. The company plans to grow the crop in a closed loop system similar to how Australian producers grow the company’s high-value Monola crop, and over the coming seasons, plans to significantly scale-up production in Argentina to meet rising demand from the European renewable fuels industry.
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