The state of Chiapas began to shine on the global biofuels map on December 13, 2007, the day on which the Institute of Biofuels and Alternative Energy (IBEA) was officially created.

Such has been the interest of the state government in renewable energy sources "particularly biodiesel, bioethanol and lubricants" that it has already set up a Biofuels and Alternative Energy Trust with capital of half a million dollars, the purpose of which is to provide economic security for Mexican and foreign investors, according to its Technical Secretary Blanca Ruth Esponda Espinosa.

Chiapas may not be a pioneering force when it comes to biofuels -the states of Nuevo León and Michoacán have biodiesel plants and Mexico as a whole produces 940,500 gallons of biodiesel annually, according to the Energy Ministry- but the IBEA plans to position the region as one of the country's main producers by planting over 49,000 acres of Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) and another 1,500 acres of castor-oil plants.

Another important offshoot of the IBEA has been commercial exchanges with countries like Spain, Argentina and Vietnam, with representatives from Argentina, the United States and Spain visiting the state in May 2007. A year later, the IBEA entered into an agreement for cooperation and the sharing of experiences with Spain's Energy Saving and Diversification Institute for the purchase of Chiapas-produced biofuels to meet domestic demand on the Spanish market.

Likewise, following a visit to Chiapas by Ho Quang Minh, coordinator of International Cooperation Projects at Vietnam's National Institute of Applied Technology, the IBEA negotiated the sale of Jatropha seeds to Vietnam and mutual follow-up of biofuels programs in exchange for advice on rubber and black tea crops, and Vietnamese acupuncture.

The bidding call issued in August by the state government of Chiapas for the sowing of Jatropha and castor-oil crops was answered by no less than 500,000 producers, while IBEA Director Rafael Armando Arellanes Caballero was quoted by a national daily as saying that 85% progress has been made on the construction of several biofuel refineries, which will turn Chiapas into the first Mexican state to run its vehicles on biofuels.

Next to castor-oil plants, which produce approximately 667 gallons per acre a year, Jatropha is one of the highest-yielding biodiesel crops, producing an estimated 160 gallons per acre a year, according to a study conducted by Colombia's Ministry of Agriculture.