200M biofuel project proposal

Mon, Dec 8th 2014, 12:21 PM

Bio Revolution America wants to invest $200 million in a biofuel project in The Bahamas, and the principals of the company could meet with Prime Minister Perry Christie about it as early as Wednesday, Guardian Business has learned.
Should the project succeed, it could mean the creation of a viable biofuel source for The Bahamas and perhaps eventually for export purposes. The agriculture, power generation and processing sectors would all be affected by this project.
The project hinges on the potential synergy between a hardy, oil-producing tree called pongamia, and the abundance of unused arable land in The Bahamas. The investors would work with the agriculture ministry and local farmers to plant pongamia trees on various islands where there is land available, but where normal food crops do not grow well.
Bio Revolution CEO Randall Richards notes that pongamia trees are prolific, easy to grow and have an exceptionally high oil content - 600 to 2,000 gallons per acre per year.
"That makes them an excellent crop for biofuel production and profitable for the farmers. This alone will create a lot of jobs and income for the nation and importantly, the Out Islands," he said, noting that the expectation is that such a project could create up to 1,000 permanent jobs.

The project
The first step would be to identify land and plant the trees.
"Next, we plan to build a major crushing plant to crush the pongamia seeds. We have already built two of these plants in the U.S. and plan six more in the next two years.
"Each crushing plant extracts about 50,000 gallons of oil per day and costs about $9 million dollars to build."
At the same time, Richards said, the company would build a processing plant using ARA/Chevron Global patented biofuel technology.
"We have built several of these in the U.S. and are in negotiations to build the largest one of its kind in the world in Texas. It will process up to 50 million gallons of gas, diesel, and jet A fuel per year. Our plan is to build a plant of similar proportions in The Bahamas, most likely in or near your deepwater port in or near Freeport."
Richards also wants to build a petroleum refinery on the site. Once the oil is processed through the ARA process, it can be refined - just like petroleum - into various things such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuels and even into raw crude for making plastics, also like petroleum. He said related business opportunities exist for turning the grease from restaurants and hotels into fuels.
"Finally, there could be a power plant built to do a highly clean burning of the pongamia shells, creating another opportunity for the nation economically," Richards said.
"All this can be built and working within 24 months. We are communicating with Prime Minister Christie about moving forward with this plan... It should bring over $200 million in investment capital, and create over 1,000 permanent jobs, many high paying," he said.
"But more importantly, it can have a dramatically positive impact on The Bahamas national economy, lower gas prices and make the nation eventually oil independent.
The tree
The pongamia typically starts yielding pods from the fifth year on with the yields increasing each year until it stabilizes around the tenth year. The yield per tree can range from about 22 lbs to more than 110 lbs depending on conditions.
Pongamia oil was traditionally used as lamp oil, in leather tanning, soap making, and as a lubricant. More recently, studies have shown some potential for biocidal activity against cholera and E. coli, as well an anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive (reduction in sensitivity to painful stimuli) and antipyretic (reduction in fever) properties. There is also research indicating that the oil can be used as a natural insecticide.
And more recently still - and of particular relevance to The Bahamas - studies have been done to convert pongamia oil into biodiesel.
Bio Revolution has partnered with ARA and Chevron Global, who have worldwide patents on the process to make diesel, gas and jet fuel from plant oil and numerous other things such as restaurant grease. The company has close to $1 billion dollars in projects either under way or in preproduction process in the U.S. and Africa.
"We are also pursuing a similar plan in Africa, but focusing on the restaurant grease, which is a major environmental problem for them," Richards told Guardian Business.
"Our partner there is BNM Technology, which is a major contractor to the South African government and to the power industry there. My good friend and CEO of that company is Bongani Mashwama."
Richards noted that people who wish to get more information, including about possible partnerships, can contact him at Randall@biorevolutionamerica.com.

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