The Company’s first major project is in biodiesel, using oils generated from the Jatropha plant that will be grown in plantations. Jatropha is one of the most promising new sources of bio-fuel, and offers many benefits over the more familiar source input crops of corn, sugar cane and coconuts. Goldman Sachs recently cited Jatropha curcas as one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production.
• It grows in marginal soil, and thus does not need to divert crop land
that can be used for food crops.
• It has a low cost to process, and can generate high yields of fuel.
• It can be grown and harvested using low-tech processes,
ideal for poorer countries.
• It is ideal for inter-cropping, and can be grown in conjunction
with existing cash crops, or planted with complimentary crops that
will also be source plants for bio-fuel processing.
The Company has recently entered into an agreement to set up a plantation to grow Jathropa plants from which biodiesel fuel will be processed. The Company has entered into a revenue sharing agreement with a group that owns 300 hectares of land (approximately 741 acres) which will be converted into a Jathropa plantation. Under the agreement, AsiaPac will be responsible for the initial planting, harvesting and processing of the Jathropa, and the landowners will earn a 20% share of the gross revenues generated therefrom. The Jatropha will be intercropped within an existing Coconut tree plantation. The plantation, located in Calabanga, Camarinas Sur in the Philippines has a land value estimated at $6.7 million.
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