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From the twinned, sugar loafed peaks of the
Pitons, to picturesque fishing villages, from world class resorts to
comfortable inns, from sulphur springs to waterfalls and rainforests, St
Lucia will never fail to amaze you. Thanks to its mountainous terrain St
Lucia’s beauty is unmatched by other islands. Because of St Lucia’s
unique climate, volcanic structure and soil quality it makes a perfect
combination to grow Jatropha Curcas from our exclusive Plateau
Plantation on the beautiful Island of St Lucia.
Jatropha Curcas and Coconuts for the
production of
Bio Diesel, Bio Gas and Electricity
In 2006 we established a new Plantation, at
Babonneau, called Plateau Plantation to grow Ginger Rhizomes and
Jatropha for the production of Ginger Products, Bio- Diesel and Bio-
Gas.
This included clearing the sites, terracing the lands, establishing
roads around the site for access and a new reservoir for water.
After terracing the lands, we implemented a grid system, so as to allow
us to grow the Jatropha trees every six feet with raised beds in
between, for the Ginger Rhizomes.
In establishing Plateau Plantation, British American Bio- Diesel has
developed a good working relationship with other plantation owners and
the St Lucian Government. The production of Bio- Diesel and Bio- Gas on
the Island will contribute to the existing Electricity Producer’s source
of fuel and contribute to a stable pricing structure for the residents
for the next fifty years. BABCO is supplying the Jatropha Curcas seeds
from our own Plantation in India, all the seeds will be processed,
packed and sealed through the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, quarantine
and export systems. They will be issued with a Phytosanitary
certificate, confirming they are free of pests, free of soil and have
been subject to all necessary pest control inspections. This will ensure
that we do not introduce any unacceptable pests or diseases into the
Island. BABCO believe that the social impact of the processing of the
Jatropha and Coconuts into Bio- Diesel, Bio- Gas and Electricity will be
similar to the land tenure, topography, size of farms that existed
during the peak Banana production years. Therefore, the positive social
impact that occurred then, such as purchasing power, long term
employment, both in rural and urban areas,
with job security can be replicated. It is the plan to grow Jatropha and
Ginger Rhizomes together in the same acreage in unoccupied lands, crown
lands, scrub lands, abandoned Banana and Coconut cultivations so that it
will produce two valuable crops per year; it will form a basis for long
term employment in areas of high unemployment. The Jatropha, once
established, will produce oil for the next fifty years without needing
to be replanted and will increase soil and water retention in the
various water sheds and increase the tree cover on the Island. The
benefits of Jatropha, Coconuts and Ginger Rhizomes are that it will
generate a large labour force both in the agricultural and industrial
areas, to this end attempts are already in hand to employ Islanders as
the projects develop, both in the Plantations and the Factories. We will
build processing plants for the Ginger, Jatropha and Coconut in St Lucia
and establish new plantations in the other islands to import Jatropha
Curcas seeds, adding to the locally grown seeds for the production of
Bio- Diesel and Bio- Gas. Discussions are already under way with other
Caribbean Islands with this in mind. BABCO sees this development of the
plantations, factories and refinery
as a two stage operation;
The first stage has been , establishing,
immediately, a number of plantations with a small pilot plant to produce
approximately ten million litres of oil per year from the newly planted
Jatropha plants and existing Coconuts available.
Stage two, will be to establish a full scale plant to produce seventy
million litres plus a year locally. For this the Company will require a
ten acre site on level ground.
Coconuts to Bio- Diesel/ Bio- Gas
St Lucia has a large quantity of Coconut trees readily available for the
conversion into Coconut oil. The revitalisation of the Coconut farms and
plantations can be quickly and easily regenerated. The oils from the
Coconuts, when treated will produce a very high grade oil with a very
high fat content. The fat content will have to be removed before
processing into Bio- Diesel. A highly specialised piece of equipment is
required for the removal of the fats from the Coconut oil.
After harvesting both the Jatropha, Coconuts and Ginger crops
there are four phases in the process.
Phase 1
The plant, and machinery will crush, then turn the Jatropha seeds and
Coconuts into oil and refine that oil into Bio- Diesel. Both for the use
by the Petroleum Industry and Lucelec.
Phase 2
All the waste product from the Jatropha, Coconuts, Bio- Diesel and any
other waste vegetation from around the Island will be processed into
Bio- Gas.
Phase 3
The Bio- Gas, which methane, will power our generators to produce
electricity, the excess electricity produced being sold back to Lucelec,
thus reducing the cost of electricity overall to the Island.
Phase 4
The Ginger grown on the same land as the Jatropha will be dried by our
high tech machines and turned into powder ready for export to the
Pharmaceutical Industry.
Ginger Rhizomes
To date we have approximately 210,000 Ginger Rhizome plants growing. We
are now preparing to harvest the Rhizomes which are then used as
feedstock for ourselves and a selected number of farmers in St Lucia, to
grow and harvest for us, under strict licence controls. The 210,000
plants should give us approximately 4.2 million new cuttings as
feedstock. It is our intention when the 4.2 million Ginger Rhizome
plants have grown to maturity, we will once again take 4.2 million
cuttings, for re-planting and an additional 4.2 million cuttings for
further developments with additional selected farmers, under license.
The balance of the harvested Ginger Rhizomes will be dried and processed
into a powder for export to the Pharmaceutical Industry. To give some
idea of the potential market the US alone imported 32 million kilos of
Ginger in 2006. The potential production from the Island’s planting of
the 8.4million Rhizomes when next harvested, after removing sufficient
for replanting, will be 8 million kilos of fresh Ginger. Secondly, the
Ginger flowers will be used for the production of Ginger essential oils
for export; this is by a distillation process and will also require
specialist equipment. The Jamaican Ginger is considered to be one of the
best in the world, possibly six times higher in grade than Chinese
Ginger and ten times higher than the Indian Because of St Lucia’s unique
climate, volcanic structure and soil quality it makes a perfect
combination to grow high grade organic Ginger for the Pharmaceutical
Industry. From tests carried out on the Gingers we are growing in our
plantation in St Lucia, the Ginger has the same qualities and standard
as the Jamaican Ginger.
Digging the open plan field.
Digging of the road complete.
Work on the road to the plantations.
Land nearly ready for crops.
The first plants are sewn.
Jatropha in the perfect elements.
Glasshouse nursery facilities.
The beautiful St. Lucia. |
