One of the partners of BIO4A project is Camelina Company España (CCE), represented by its founder and director Yuri Herreras Yambanis.
This Spanish company has focused since 2009 on developing a unique crop, Camelina, which has proven great potential for sustainable biofuel production with many beneficial aspects from an agronomic perspective. Indeed, camelina is highly adaptable under difficult cultivation conditions, including marginal lands with a risk of desertification. BIO4A activities include CCE’s greenhouse and field trials in order to select new, more performing camelina varieties under these extreme growing conditions.
We had the chance to talk with Yuri on occasion of the project meeting at the JRC headquarters in Ispra (I). We discussed about the reasons at the basis of choosing this specific crop in connection to the aviation industry, the advantages provided by Camelina and how this crop is part of a change of mentality in Spanish agriculture, with an eye on sustainability and the recovery of “abandoned land” in dryland areas with high desertification risk.
Enjoy the video!