Israeli investment group Leviev Group is entering the biofuel industry in Namibia, where it has a long history in mining for diamonds.
Leviev Group’s L.L Biofuel Namibia (PTY) Ltd. will partner with and Ormat Technologies Ltd (NYSE: ORA) subsidiary Orfuel Inc. and Evogene Ltd. (TASE: EVGN) to focus on the growth of specialized castor plants for use as feedstock for biodiesel.
According to the terms of the agreement, the new company will examine various castor varieties in field tests in Namibia, and following the selection of best performing varieties, the new company will work to commercialize and grow the selected varieties on a commercial scale in Namibia, and possibly in other locations in Africa.
Evogene will provide the new company with the castor varieties for evaluation, and will utilize its knowledge and capabilities in plant growth. The Leviev Group will provide access to lands for crop growth in Namibia and logistical infrastructure for the project. In addition, the Leviev Group will contribute its experience and knowledge in establishing projects in Namibia and in other southern African countries.
The castor varieties to be supplied by Evogene will be selected from varieties being developed in a previously announced collaboration between Evogene and Orfuel, initiated in September 2007.
Under this collaboration, which has received a grant from the BIRD Foundation (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation), Evogene and Orfuel are jointly developing non-edible plants, such as castor, for biodiesel commercial production. A special focus of this collaboration is that these plants can be grown commercially in non-arable areas.
Castor is a high-oil yielding crop and there are vast non arable lands available in Namibia that potentially could be used for this purpose. Thus it is anticipated that the cost of biodiesel feedstock produced using specialized castor crops grown in Namibia is expected to be significantly lower than cost of biodiesel produced from crops currently used for this purpose, such as soybean and canola.
About Leviev Group
The activity of Leviev Group, to which L.L Biofuel Namibia (PTY) Ltd. belongs, includes various companies worldwide (in America, Europe, Africa, far east and other), which deal with real-estate, green construction, construction and infrastructures, mining, diamonds, international trade, energy and oil and other. The Leviev Group has been operating in Africa for several years, and has extensive experience in the continent in various fields. The Group is active in Namibia through mining, diamond refinement, constructions, infrastructure and agriculture.
About Evogene
Evogene is a leading developer of improved plants for the ag-biotech and biofuel industries. The Company’s proprietary product development platform combines world leading computational gene discovery technologies, high throughput selection systems and advanced breeding methods. Evogene’s current programs focus on yield under normal and various environmental stress conditions (such as drought), fertilizer utilization and the improvement of plants specifically for biofuel uses. Evogene has collaboration and licensing agreements with world leading companies in the ag-biotech and alternative energy industries. Evogene’s headquarters are in Rehovot, Israel.
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