Barbadian entrepreneur Handel Callender is in the right place at the right time. With raising energy prices worldwide having a negative impact locally, the Barbadian who operates a biodiesel company, Native Sun NRG, have seen his vision to expand the one man operation taken off. Native Sun NRG is being bought over by a US company – Amelot Holdings Inc, a publicly traded company incorporated in the state of Wyoming and headquartered in New York, US.
Handel Callender who was featured in a March 2007 Nation’s [original story] article operates the first commerical biodiesel company in Barbados or 100% Bajan renewable fuel as he calls it. The article states that he was in the final stages of negotiations with an unnamed America company for a $20,000 plus investment which would have resulted in more equipment, hiring of additional staff and expansion of production to more than 300 gallons a week. Currently the company produces 100 gallons a week.
According to Mr Callender Barbados has the potential to produce a thousand times that amount given that an estimated 500 000 gallons of used oil is generated each year, which could be collected for recycling into about 400 000 gallons of biodiesel.
400 000 gallons that can greatly reduce the Transport Board fuel bill.
The managing director who primary goal is to service the small business sector with cheaper fuel was quoted as saying that “The most important thing I would like to see happen is to use bio-diesel not for something as inefficient as transport, but for energy generation in small businesses. A lot of them are getting hit really hard by the increase in energy prices, and if I could find a way to make biodiesel cheaper than regular diesel and supply it to small businesses so they can become sustainable . . . that would be great.”
The US, through Congress, has mandated that 25 per cent of corn production should go to biofuel production. What this has done is reduced the supply of corn for food consumption, placing pressure on the price. Now why isn’t biodiesel being push more as an alternative than ethanol on the world stage?.
Amelot a diversified holding company identified Biodiesel as a US$20b emerging market had this to say.
“We feel this addition to our company will provide us and our shareholders with the necessary tools to be truly successful in the biodiesel industry,”
Generating enought of this “waste” to reduce this country fuel import bill by 10 to 20%?”. Anything is possible.
British Columbia recently pass legislation for renewable fuels to comprise 5% of all diesel and gasoline sold in B.C by 2010.
In February 24 2008, a biofuel- powered commercial aircraft took off from London’s Heathrow Airport and touch down in Amsterdam on a demonstration flight . It was the world’s first and was hailed as a step towards “cleaner” flying.
Hey! I will be first in line to get some of that 100% Bajan renewable fuel for my vechicle. Anything to make my diesel vechicle more efficient and with less pollution in de air.
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July 29, 2008 at 2:00 pm
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