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.
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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.
