Many pundits and business people are very prolific in their communication about making environmental solutions profitable. Others, on the other hand, quietly go about solving the issues. In today’s sudden realization that the world is running out of natural resources, business is beginning to get the upper hand on the technology that may solve some issues. Small steps at first, to be sure, but if the right company can be found and nurtured, a remarkable profit will surely grow.
Valcent Products Inc., an environmentally directed, end-use products developer, works to develop and commercialize environmental products with practical solutions for social and industrial end-uses. The company is currently close to finishing trials for two leading-edge, partial solutions to the world’s food, water and energy issues.
The company’s main product is a vertical vegetable growing system directed at producing vegetable food crops more efficiently. As the world runs short of food and water, the company has developed a system that has proven it can produce an estimated 20 times the amount of vegetable output of one acre of land – on 1/8th acre. Generally, this success rate is achieved through continuous growing and continuous monitoring and adjustment of climate, nutrients and ideal growing conditions. Test crops have been directed at lettuce but have also shown similar test results where strawberries, grains, spinach, mint, beets, wheat grass and alpha are concerned. With a capital cost of approximately $545,000 per 1/8 acre of vertical growth modules, the company estimates a $1.3 million revenue stream based on $1.10 per head of leafy lettuce. Several commercial growers have expressed a build-out interest.
Perhaps a bit more esoteric in nature is the company’s algae biomass project. This project is directed at producing algae oil for biodiesel fuels. Many of the oils required for production of biodiesel are environmentally sounder than alternatives, but not generally as environmentally friendly as other options. A biomass created from controlled growth of algae produces a net negative carbon footprint in several ways, making it the environmental fuel oil of choice. Currently, the company is ramping test facilities in this area and should have definitive commercial-level results in the near term. Where many speak to these particular issues in theoretical terms, Valcent Products talks to the reality. It is clearly at the cutting edge of providing practical and profitable solutions to the world’s food, water and – to a lesser degree – energy needs. Some say products need to be commercially viable; Valcent Products says, here they are.
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