WALNUT, Calif., Jan. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE Inc.
(OTCQB: VSPC) CEO, Dr. Carl Kukkonen
and Chairman of the Board, Dr. Kevin
Schewe, today provided an update on recent company technical
and business activities.
Dr. Kukkonen reported, "VIASPACE has been very busy since the
last CEO update on November 4, 2012.
I will give a summary of our recent business activities.
- I spent time in Nicaragua
working on the 12 MW Giant King Grass power plant project with
AGRICORP. I met with senior management, our agriculture team,
government officials and local power plant and grid experts. The
financial model is complete, as is the summary business plan. We
have also decided to embark on a parallel animal feed project with
AGRICORP as well. The Giant King Grass is growing well and the
propagation field planted at the end of May is ready for harvest
and further propagation which will focus on animal feed.
- Two potential customers from Costa
Rica and Guatemala flew to
Nicaragua to meet with me. Another
potential customer from Panama
also contacted me. All three have signed nondisclosure
agreements.
- I met with development banks in Washington, DC and received strong support for
the project. We expect to get 70% of the project financing from an
international development bank.
- The Giant King Grass is growing very well in South Africa, and the project is moving toward
the next stage.
- We traveled to Washington, DC
with a new partner for a Giant King Grass project in Pakistan to meet with investors. The partner
has signed a nondisclosure agreement and is proceeding with a
contract. We expect to be able to make an announcement on this
soon.
- VIASPACE Director, Mr. Khurram
Irshad, a Pakistani American, has traveled to Pakistan twice and is working on another
opportunity in Pakistan.
- A potential customer in the Caribbean has requested a test of Giant King
Grass for a biofuels project. VIASPACE harvested 3,000 pounds of
Giant King Grass from our California nursery, and the US biofuels
company on the East Coast picked up the Giant King Grass on
December 30, 2013. Test results
should be available in 6 to 8 weeks.
- I went to the University of California
Davis and met with their forage expert to review Giant King
Grass as an animal feed and received significant recommendations.
One suggestion was to double check the results of our forage
analysis. VIASPACE has previously utilized near infrared analysis
(NIR) from the Dairy One Forage Laboratory in Ithaca, New York. UC Davis recommended a
comparison of the NIR data with a full wet chemistry analysis, and
also recommended a second laboratory, Cumberland Valley Analytical
Services, which tested the same sample using both NIR and wet
chemistry. Using both laboratories and both methods produced the
same results and confirmed that Giant King Grass is an excellent
animal feed.
- Our VIASPACE partner in the Arizona animal feed project, Maricopa Bio
Crops, came to California where we
held technical and business meetings and met with a mechanical
harvesting expert in the Central
Valley. This project is moving forward efficiently to our
mutual satisfaction and 2014 should prove to be a productive year
with our partnership.
- The Giant King Grass in Hawaii
successfully completed its 12 month quarantine on December 20, 2013. VIASPACE is in discussions
with potential Hawaiian partners. The Hawaii Department of
Agriculture has allowed Giant King Grass to remain in their
facility until our partnership status is finalized and the location
has been determined.
- VIASPACE has been invited to make a presentation on the
Nicaragua 12 MW Power Plant
project at the International Biomass Conference to be held in
Orlando Florida March 24-26, 2014.
- VIASPACE held a Board of Directors meeting on December 23, 2013."
Kukkonen concluded, "I believe that 2014 will be a very
important and successful year for VIASPACE."
VIASPACE Chairman of the Board, Dr. Kevin Schewe, reported on recent business and
technical activities, "At our December
23 Board of Directors meeting, the Board unanimously voted
to increase the number of authorized shares by 20%. These are
authorized shares and none of these shares have been issued. We
have been very judicious with issuing limited additional shares;
however, the number of issued shares was getting close to the
number of authorized shares. The Board plans to minimize dilution
consistent with operating the company, but needs the flexibility of
additional authorized shares for continued growth, financing and
partnerships."
Dr. Schewe continued, "Since October of 2012, when I became
Chairman of the Board, I have loaned VIASPACE a total of
$342,000 in the form of Senior
Convertible Loans. As per our five-year, one
million dollar loan agreement, I am able to convert these
loans into common shares which I have immediately done after making
the loans. I have made the immediate conversion with two
motivations in mind. First, by converting to common shares, I have
intentionally minimized additional debt on VIASPACE's books.
Secondly, I personally believe that our share price is undervalued
by the market and that my conversions to common shares will make a
handsome return on investment in the future. I know of no better
way to show and convey my confidence in the future of the
Company."
Dr. Schewe concluded, "I now hold 152,500,472 VIASPACE common
shares and have become the company's second largest common
shareholder. As Chairman of the Board, I think and act on behalf of
all common shareholders. I believe that 2014 will be a pivotal year
for VIASPACE in both the green energy market and the animal feed
market. We are a budding global company with aspirations to
greatness and a terrific pipeline of projects to propel us in that
direction, several of which are very close to reaching fruition. I
am pushing our company, CEO and Board of Directors to make 2014 our
breakout year for generating revenues with the goal to grow
revenues year by year from here forward."
About VIASPACE Inc.
VIASPACE grows renewable Giant
KingTM Grass as a low-carbon fuel for clean electricity
generation; for environmentally friendly energy pellets; and as a
feedstock for bio-methane production and for green cellulosic
biofuels, biochemicals and biomaterials. Giant King Grass is a proprietary, high yield,
dedicated biomass clean energy crop. Giant King Grass when it is cut frequently at 4 to 5
feet tall is also excellent animal feed. For more information,
please go to www.VIASPACE.com or contact Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications, at
800-517-8050 or IR@VIASPACE.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Information in
this news release includes forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements relate to future events or future
performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements to be materially different
from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. Such factors include, without limitation, risks
outlined in our periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2012, and
other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no control.
SOURCE VIASPACE Inc.