WALNUT, Calif., April 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE Inc.
(OTCQB: VSPC) today announced that Mesquite Lake Water and Power
LLC has planted a 22 acre nursery of Giant King Grass in the
Imperial Valley of Southern California. More than 2,200 acres
of Giant King Grass can be produced from this nursery as early as
September 2014.
Previously VIASPACE reported that it had signed a contract with
Mesquite Lake Water and Power to provide Giant King Grass for an 18
MW biomass power plant and a companion advanced biofuels facility
which are a part of the Mesquite Lake Energy Park that is being
developed in Imperial,
California.
Mr. Rodney L. Williams, managing
member of Mesquite Lake, stated, "We are moving quickly to
establish the Giant King Grass as a viable energy crop to be grown
in the Imperial Valley. Our goal is to be prepared with fuel on
hand when the power plant reopens. VIASPACE is working closely with
our team. Within two weeks of signing the contract, we had Giant
King Grass planted in the Valley. We are experiencing plant
germination and emergence daily! This is the initial step involved
in the creation of developing large tracts of land in the Imperial
Valley for commercial production."
VIASPACE CEO, Dr. Carl Kukkonen,
stated, "Giant King Grass is grown from cuttings not from seeds
which is the same way that sugarcane is propagated. We harvested
Giant King Grass at the dedicated VIASPACE nursery in Southern California and prepared 5 tons of
propagation material which were picked up by Mesquite Lake and
taken to the Imperial Valley and planted. Mesquite Lake is an
important project for the Imperial Valley and for VIASPACE and we
are fully supporting it."
The 22 acre Giant King Grass propagation nursery is in the
center area of a one square mile (640 acre) section that currently
has wheat planted on it. The soil was tilled and manure was
incorporated to provide fertilizer. After smoothing, a GPS guided
tractor created the furrows for planting the Giant King Grass. The
Imperial Valley is hot and dry, but has abundant irrigation water.
A sprinkler system was installed to provide irrigation for
germination and steady growth. The Giant King Grass was manually
planted. This process was quite efficient, but mechanical planting
will also be available.
VIASPACE Board Chairman, Dr. Kevin
Schewe, further explained, "For a typical new customer, we
usually start with a 5 acre Giant King Grass propagation nursery
which serves to prove that Giant King Grass grows well in that
specific locale and provides adequate Giant King Grass
seedlings/nodes to propagate a plantation corresponding to the
client's timetable. Our project with Mesquite Lake Water and Power
is very different and exciting for our company and its
shareholders. We know that Giant King Grass will thrive in Imperial
Valley because it is right next door to our Southern California dedicated VIASPACE
corporate nursery. In Imperial Valley, we shipped 5 tons of
seedlings and planted 22 acres as the starting point. I strongly
encourage all interested parties and investors to examine the
pictures that we have posted on our VIASPACE Facebook page showing
the Imperial Valley planting and irrigation. Our partner is
experienced in agriculture and has access to adequate land. We
planted 22 acres because it can be rapidly propagated to 2,200
acres this year. Our partner plans to restart their 18MW power
plant (Mesquite Lake Energy Park Plant #1) and fuel it with a
combination of wood waste and Giant King Grass. They also plan to
convert ML Energy Park Plant #2 to produce advanced biofuels using
Giant King Grass as the dedicated feed stock."
Dr. Schewe concluded, "Dr. Kukkonen recently traveled to
Denver, Colorado and we jointly
met with potential project financing sources and we were very well
received. Our general business plan for revenues based on our Giant
King Grass license fees, the combination of license fees plus the
sale of electricity and partnering for advanced biofuels, pellet
production and animal feed projects was likened to establishing a
large pipeline of 25-year corporate annuities. We are now seeing
increased financial interest in continuously renewable,
biomass-based, green energy production. Dr. Kukkonen left
Denver and then traveled to
another continent to supervise the planting of Giant King Grass for
another new client which we will soon announce. Our shareholders
and investors want to see significant revenue and we are very
actively building that revenue pipeline. VIASPACE is on the leading
edge of what needs to be done to advance renewable, biomass-based,
carbon-neutral, green energy."
Pictures of the harvest at the VIASPACE nursery and planting in
Imperial Valley are available on the VIASPACE Facebook page
www.facebook.com/viaspaceinc.
VIASPACE press releases (sometimes with pictures) are sent out
to individuals on the VIASPACE mailing list. To sign-up, please
visit the VIASPACE website www.VIASPACE.com.
About VIASPACE Inc.
VIASPACE grows renewable Giant
King™ 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 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, 2013, and
other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no
control.
SOURCE VIASPACE Inc.