Ecotech Alliance Explains Multiple Uses For Dedicated Bioenergy Crops

1. The attraction of bioenergy crops as a source of energy are that they can be produced in many regions, can be converted into high-energy solid, liquid or gaseous forms, and most importantly has the potential to be a carbon neutral source of fuel. With the increased focus over the past several years, on growing crops for the bioenergy sector, dedicated energy crops are now considered to be great sources of biomass for producing advanced biofuels because of their potential to provide high yields of biofuels per unit of land even if grown on land that has low productivity for producing conventional crops and with low fertilizer input application. Many crops can also sequester more soil carbon per unit of land than conventional crops and lead to considerably large savings in life-cycle greenhouse emissions relative to oil, coal and gas, while reducing soil erosion and nitrogen leaching. Biomass and Bioenergy Off-Take Markets Mark Abell explains that buyers of biomass crops can be divided into different “tiers,” with Tier 1 being those who need raw materials, and Tier 2 representing the sector that requires refined biomass products. Tier 3 represents industrial users of refined biomass products, while Tier 4 are those who produce products made from refined biomass materials. In all tiers, there are energy and non-energy sector uses for biomass crops. Bio-heat and bio- power, and biofuel for transportation are all energy uses, while the non-energy sectors include not only animal bedding and animal feed but plastics and fertilizer industries, as well as bio- pharmaceuticals dyes and pigments. As new markets for biomass crops continue to develop, with the larger energy markets now playing catch-up with the supply of biomass crops, as a producer, we have seen many more options open up in the market place to capitalise on.

2. Commercial Scale Modelling Ecotech Alliance’s research and development team are contributing to the development of bioenergy crops with efficient modelling and applications that can be applied to large scale commercial crops. The need to understand the relationship between the environmental conditions and the growth of bioenergy grasses and crops and how the different environmental factors control it are an important part of our modelling. Our models can estimate and predict the yield and stability of crops at various locations and on a large commercial scale. Obviously you cannot grow these crops everywhere. There are certain environmental conditions that favour them to grow in certain parts of the world and our modelling helps to calculate the return on crop yield and return on capital investment. Pakchong Hybrid Napier Grass Ecotech Alliance management has been working with an established network of farmers and co- operatives and is encouraging land owners/plantation managers with land availability of at least 200 hectares or more to consider the Pakchong Hybrid Napier Grass as an attractive energy crop. The Pakchong has been proven to yield higher energy than other types of Napier grass and is ideal as feedstock for biomass power plants as well as a high protein cattle feed. The Super Grass was developed by Dr. Krailas Kiyothong, animal nutritionist and plant breeder of the Department of Livestock Development in Pakchong, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand. He developed Napier Pakchong 1 by crossing the Pennisetum purpureum with Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) This shift toward Napier grass in Thailand has created many opportunities for increased revenues for Ecotech Alliance and may create business opportunities for Japanese companies that have invested in Thailand with expertise in biofuels. An example of this is Toyota who has been working on creating a bioethanol fuel for automobiles from Napier grass, with an eye on commercializing the technology as early as 2020.

3. Dedicated Bioenergy Crop Experience Because Ecotech Alliance and our co- operatives have experience in handling large volumes of biomass through dedicated bioenergy crop experience, and expertise in propagation through crop planting and establishment of projects, we have been engaged by many clients on a broad basis. Through this broad experience of Ecotech Alliance’s employees and management team we have the skills necessary to implement successful dedicated crops or agroforestry operations: Screening and selection of types of material to be grown • Agronomic practices and soil characteristic • Means and methods of economical land preparation, planting and cultivation • Probable soil supplementation based on crop and soil, including fertilization applications. • Probable irrigation or drainage requirements. • Best methods for harvesting, delivery, and/or storage. • Ecotech Alliance Pty Ltd Ecotech Alliance Pty Ltd 8 Kings Park Avenue, Crawley, Perth, WA 6009 Australia Tel: +61 (8) 9467 4004 www.ecotechalliance.com