WALNUT, Calif., March 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE Inc.
(OTCQB: VSPC) provided an update on the 7 MW Giant King Grass
fueled anaerobic digestion power plant being developed by Tibbar
Energy USVI, LLC on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.
Tibbar Energy presented their 7MW Biogas Project at a CZM
(Coastal Zone Management) Public Hearing on February 27th requesting a CZM permit.
The presentation was made by CEO Ms. Tania
Tomyn who reported, "The public support was overwhelming
from local residents and businesses. The island of St. Croix
is about to see the first project of its kind with Tibbar's
anaerobic digestion facility. We will produce lower cost, clean
renewable power, create jobs, and develop a local organic
fertilizer source that will be offered to local farmers. We
will develop a 1,600 acre energy crop farming operation on the
island using mainly Giant King Grass and some native local grasses,
and we will use a treated effluent stream from Virgin Islands Waste
Management Authority that is currently secondarily treated and
discharged to the ocean for irrigation on half of our farms."
Tomyn continued, "Tibbar will also donate 1,000 round bales of
hay to the Department of Agriculture for small farmer's livestock.
Giant King Grass has grown extremely
well on the island of St. Croix since we planted the first nursery
19 months ago."
The CZM Committee has 30 days to approve Tibbar's permit
application. Tibbar has all other permits, including Air,
Earth Change, Pipelines, and Electrical duct, submitted, deemed
complete and working through the process. Last July 2013, Tibbar executed with WAPA (the local
Government owned utility) a 25 year Power Purchase Agreement with 5
year option for $0.245/kwh and at the
same time executed an interconnection agreement. The entire project
is carbon neutral and will be the first fossil fuel independent
base load power project on St. Croix.
"In addition to Tibbar's power production, we have added to our
design a process that will allow Tibbar to produce hundreds of tons
of quality organic fertilizer a year," Ms. Tomyn said. "After our
crops receive what they need and we have given all the fertilizer
we can away to small farmers on the island of St. Croix, we will
have an excess that we will export. It's a win-win with a perfect
harmony of environmental and economic benefits"
VIASPACE CEO Dr. Carl Kukkonen
stated, "We congratulate Tibbar on their progress, and we fully
support their activities. Last year, Professor Mary Nikola from the Rutgers University School of Environmental and
Biological Sciences contacted me about a potential field trip for
her class to visit the renewable energy project in St. Croix.
Tibbar agreed and the class visited in January."
VIASPACE Board Chairman, Dr. Kevin
Schewe, also commented, "We are very excited about Tibbar's
continuing progress and show of public and local government support
on St. Croix to create base load, 24/7 electricity using Giant King
Grass as a continuously renewable biomass platform for anaerobic
digestion power production. The byproduct of quality organic
fertilizer makes this process an even larger environmental leap
ahead of fossil fuel power generation. It is only a matter of time
that more tropical islands and island nations (Caribbean and South Pacific) realize the
environmental and economic benefits of using Giant King Grass as
their continuously renewable, green energy, biomass platform.
Finally, our shareholders should be encouraged that our 25-year
license fee revenue stream from using Giant King Grass in St. Croix
is moving closer toward realization.
Pictures of Giant King Grass in St. Croix, a front page story
from the St. Croix Avis newspaper and a picture of the class visit
from the New Jersey Farmer newspaper are available on the VIASPACE
Facebook page www.facebook.com/viaspaceinc.
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. The USDA granted approval
for planting Giant King Grass throughout the US and cooperates in
exporting by performing the required inspections and issuing the
phytosanitary certificate needed for import into foreign countries.
Giant King Grass is being grown in
California, Arizona, Hawaii, St. Croix Virgin Islands, Nicaragua, South
Africa, China, Myanmar and Pakistan. 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.