Global Energy Inc. (Bulletin Board: GEYI) plans to raise $10-15 million in equity by the middle of the first quarter of 2008 to finance a planned deployment of biodiesel production plants in Europe and elsewhere around the world.
Global Energy was founded in 1999 as an oil company, with Canadian oil wells as its core business. The company later quit the oil business becoming a stock market shell until May 2007, when it entered the renewable energy industry.
Global Energy CEO Asi Shalgi is a serial entrepreneur of energy and infrastructure projects. He has 20 years experience in the business, and served as director general of the Ministry of Energy in 1995-96. Other Israelis at the company include special consultant for projects development Yossi Raz, a former VP at Bateman Engineering NV (AIM:BTE); and marketing manager Dr. Irit Arbel.
Global Energy has two divisions. One builds, operates and owns biodiesel production plants. The second is Global Energy Pacific, which grows the crops - jatropha and the castor oil bean plant - that will be used for biodiesel production. The company aims to use crops that will not use agricultural land needed for food crops. This activity is now underway in Ethiopia.
Commenting on biodiesel, Shalgi said, "We're replacing fossil fuels, which are an acute problem because of their contribution to global warming. We're also dealing with the problem of accumulating organic waste in the ground and water. The average person in the US produces four kilograms of waste a day, which creates an inexhaustible source of raw material for fuel. The technology uses municipal sold waste (plastics, rubber, paper, carton, wood, refinery sludge, paraffin, bitumen, and other materials. "
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 4, 2007
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