Medical Discoveries Inc. acquires developer of jatropha oil

Medical Discoveries, Inc. (MDI) announced today it has acquired privately-held Los Angeles-based Global Clean Energy Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Mobius Risk Group LLC. The purchase includes certain proprietary rights, intellectual property and other rights relating to both the cultivation and production of feedstock oil from the Jatropha curcas plant, and the commercialization of the oil for the production of biodiesel.

MDI claims the per barrel cost of Jatropha oil is currently significantly lower than the cost of crude oil. It uses a fraction of the resources, and is considerably less expensive to produce than soybean, rapeseed or corn oil, the primary crops presently used for the production of biofuels. The oil extracted from Jatropha curcas seeds, a native non-edible plant indigenous to many tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, including Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, is used for the production of high quality biodiesel – an important renewable fuel quickly gaining commercial acceptance worldwide. The Jatropha plant requires less water and fertilizer than conventional crops, and can be grown on desert and other lands not suitable for the production of food crops.

One of the greatest challenges facing the biofuels industry is the high cost of food-based feedstock. Developing and distributing a cost-effective non-food based biofuel feedstock is an enormous opportunity for MDI’s shareholders to participate in the very exciting biofuels industry. - David R. Walker, Chairman of the Board of MDI

Despite a surge in attention, many practical questions remain about harvesting and handling the Jatropha crop and its seeds. Dilemmas about social equity and labor conditions must be resolved as well (earlier post).

Notwithstanding these reservations, due to the vast quantities of water, land, and agrichemicals presently required by first-generation crops currently used for the production of biodiesel and ethanol-based fuels in the U.S. (corn, wheat, soybeans), government concerns about significant future environmental damage are driving the need to develop new economical biofuel feedstocks:
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biobutanol :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: Africa ::

According to a recent article published in the Wall Street Journal, “U.S. farmers only have the capacity to replace about 7% of the country’s gasoline with corn-based ethanol, despite a new federal renewable-fuels target of 15% by 2017. To reach that goal, the U.S. will likely have to find a lot more land.”

Shifting to biodiesel which has a much higher energy balance than ethanol, can allow the United States to achieve our renewable energy fuel goals while shifting jobs and revenues to U.S. companies, further reducing our dependence on foreign oil. - Richard Palmer, MDI’s newly appointed President and Chief Operating Officer.

The ability to produce low cost oil from a non-edible plant, which does not compete with land or other resources used for food crops, provides MDI an opportunity in the biofuels feedstock business without the side effect of driving up food prices.

Goldman Sachs recently cited Jatropha curcas as one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production. MDI believes its business strategy, the land and operating agreements it continues to develop plus its expertise in plant and soil sciences positions it to become the first and largest United States-based producer of commercial quantities of Jatropha oil.

In addition to growing and selling Jatropha oil and other biomass byproducts, the company intends to sell the carbon sequestration credits generated by the plant’s ability to convert large volumes of carbon dioxide to oxygen through photosynthesis.

The credits will be sold to companies unable to meet their greenhouse gas reduction requirements under the Kyoto Accords, or within other Cap and Trade markets domestically. The carbon credits will be sold through the European Climate Exchange (ECX) and the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change assigning mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

In order to establish and drive its new business, the Company hired Richard Palmer, a seasoned energy executive with many years of experience in the alternate energy and bio-fuels industry. To further support the new effort, the Company has entered into a consulting agreement with Mobius Risk Group LLC, a leading energy risk management company.

In a strategic move to bolster its Board’s bio-fuels, risk management, and financial expertise, MDI appointed three new directors to its Board of Directors; Richard Palmer, its new President and COO, Eric J. Melvin, the Chief Executive Officer of Mobius Risk Group, and Martin Schroeder, the Executive Vice President & Managing Director of The Emmes Group, a strategic business development, assessment and planning organization. In order to provide additional funds for its new operations, Medical Discoveries has entered into a $1 million loan agreement with a third party lender.

Medical Discoveries purchased Global Clean Energy Holdings LLC from Mobius Risk Group and Mr. Palmer in exchange for 63,945,257 shares of its common stock. Of the 63,945,257 shares, 27,405,111 shares were issued subject to the Company achieving certain specified performance milestones. Some or all of the 27,405,111 shares may be cancelled if the milestones are not met.

References:
Biopact: Analysts: labor-intensive Jatropha not a magic bullet - September 12, 2007