• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

VIASPACE Plants Biofuel & Animal Feed Grass and Signs Land Lease in China

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 07:37 CST

PASADENA, Calif., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VSPC) announced today that it has planted 1.2 million seedlings of its proprietary fast-growing China Giant King Grass near the IPA factory in Guangdong province in China. Giant King Grass is a natural hybrid perennial grass which is propagated from seedlings rather than seeds. In tropical and subtropical areas such as Southern China, it can yield four crops per year and up to 156 tons of grass per acre per year.

VIASPACE also signed a 15 year lease on agricultural land in Heyuan city in Guangdong Province, China. The lease was signed last week in a ceremony with government officials. The lease is for 100 acres, with an option for an additional 1400 acres in 2009. VIASPACE plans to plant Giant King Grass seedlings in Heyuan early next year.

China Giant King Grass was originally developed as an animal feed for cows, pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, turkeys and fish. Animal feed provides an immediate market for the grass which is also being grown as a feedstock for production of cellulosic ethanol, methanol, biocrude and green gasoline. VIASPACE expects to generate $20 million in revenue in the next two years including the sale of grass for livestock feed and alternative fuels. Agriculture and alternative energy are two of the national priorities of China.

Dr. Carl Kukkonen, CEO of VIASPACE, commented: "VIASPACE is focusing on green energy with its fuel cartridges for fuel cell powered notebook computers and mobile phones, and on China Giant King Grass as a carbon neutral alternative fuel feedstock. A major advantage of the grass is that it has an immediate market as an animal feed. We project that we can generate significant revenue and profit in the in the next year or two by selling the grass as animal feed. In parallel, we are building capability to grow large amounts of grass for production of nonfood crop cellulosic alternative green fuels."

VIASPACE recently acquired Inter-Pacific Arts Corp., a company with ongoing profitable operations generating unaudited 2007 revenues of approximately $5 million, net income of $1.2 million, and $3 million in cash and equivalents. Inter-Pacific has a worldwide license to grow and sell the ultra-fast-growing hybrid grass in addition to its already profitable consumer products business.

Dr. Kukkonen was interviewed by the Chinese Daily News, the largest Chinese language newspaper outside of China, on the grass business, and the resulting article is available online at News from worldjournal.com http://www.worldjournal.com/wj-la-news.php?nt_seq_id=1812481

About VIASPACE (OTCBB: VSPC) -- VIASPACE was founded in 1998 and became public in 2005. VIASPACE's direct methanol fuel cell intellectual property was licensed from Caltech, which manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory where the direct methanol fuel cell was invented. VIASPACE is focused on green energy through its fuel cell cartridges, and its proprietary fast-growing grass which has markets as a feedstock for nonfood crop biofuels, as and as feed for dairy cows, pigs, sheep, goats, fish and other animals. For more information, please see www.VIASPACE.com or contact Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications, at 800-517-8050 or IR@VIASPACE.com.

Press contact: Dr. Carl Kukkonen 626-768-3360

A picture of the grass is available on the VIASPACE website or by e-mailing Kukkonen@VIASPACE.com

This news release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or our 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 any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such factors include without limitation the risks outlined in our periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, as well as general economic and business conditions, the ability to acquire and develop specific projects and technologies, the ability to fund operations, changes in consumer and business consumption habits, competition with larger companies, demand for biofuels and animal feed particularly in China, risks associated with international transactions, crop development, growing, and harvesting related risks, and other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no control.

SOURCE VIASPACE Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

More News in this Category