Biomass Ventures Pte Ltd

Singapore, 新加坡

An Overview Of Our Solution

The Biomass Group is a vertically integrated renewable energy company that develops biomass resources for pellets and for domestic power generation. Organized as interdependent companies; ♣ Biomass supply (Biomass Supplies – incorporated in 2013) ♣ Pellets production (Trinco Pellets incorporated in 2015) ♣ Green energy generation (to be incorporated) The Biomass Group has built relationships in local government, civil society, banking and agricultural sectors to enable this business to become a ground breaking enterprise. This is an agro-energy program that combines food and fuel and livelihood development. We source from small farmers and plantation owners in a very innovative partnership, empowering smallholder farmers and transforming agriculture communities in Sri Lanka as a whole.

Who is this solution impacting?

Community Type

Suburban

Rural

Organization type

公司

Ecosystem (select all that apply)

Forests

Grasslands

Population impacted

We have registered 40,000 small farmers

Size of agricultural area

We count the number of trees not hectares. However, we estimate c 52,000 ha is covered by our out-grower model

Production quantity

Initial 150,000 MT of pellets (in 2018)

People employed

Currently 25 full time staff

Describe your solution

We have been developing this out-grower model so we can garner sufficient fuel wood for our power business – supply security is the KEY to raising the very significant CAPEX for biomass pellets and power. It is the foundation required to set in place these other businesses. The by-product of what we do is, to be a catalyst for organic agriculture. Gliricidia has been used by small holder farmers in Sri Lanka for hundreds of years. However, farmers had forgotten how to make compost, fertilizer, pesticide etc. relying inorganic chemical inputs instead. This has resulted in a prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease in the North of Sri Lanka. Biomass Supplies has taught farmers the importance on reverting back to historical traditions that work in harmony with nature that also saves them money.

Describe your implementation

Supply security is THE imperative to raise the substantial funds required for pellet plants or power plants. All other fuel wood producers buy land and mono cultivate energy crop on that land – which results in conflict with local people, civil society in regard to the food vs fuel issue etc . The most difficult part of implementation was to find investors prepared to invest in business that was only forging relationship with small farmers who would support the out-grower model. The Founder spent 3 years and a great deal her own funds to bring the project to a level whereby HNW investors were prepared to then fund the business. Today ♣ The office in Colombo is headed by the Founder, a CEO and key staff in supply development (for large land extents), logistics and finance. ♣ The Regional office has a Head of Field Operations overseeing 20 field staff who deal with small farmer relationships. Our next stage is to invest in a state of the art IT system – that intended to be the ‘Uber’ platform for small holder farmers to manage inventory, harvesting etc. It will enable the business to scale.

External connections

We employ experts in organic agriculture and a specialist from the Coconut Research Institute to help teach small holder farmers / coconut land owners on how Gliricidia can help them save money. We work with the local government and agricultural officers from the Ministry of Agriculture. We also work with state & private plantations, the Defense services, the Catholic Church, Buddhist temples to supply fuel wood. This out-grower model for sourcing feedstock can be replicated anywhere across Sri Lanka.

What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?

Sri Lanka has a bountiful supply of biomass – yet energy is derived by burning imported coal & oil. The plan is to replace 300MW of coal with biomass sourced from small holder farmers & plantations. Thus reducing the US $10BN Sri Lanka spends annually on importing fossil fuels for energy and on fertilizer imports. The primary biomass fuel is Gliricidia, a rapidly growing, short-rotation tree found growing wild throughout Sri Lanka. It is nitrogen-fixing, used as a shade tree, soil improver, and as “live fencing” by smallholders. Also used as support for other crops e.g. pepper & vanilla. This tree has manifold benefits – leaves are used as animal fodder, & to make organic fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides & can provide the farmer’s entire urea requirement. Thus saving money spent on buying agro-chemicals inputs. Only the branches that are purchased to make pellets when the tree is coppiced. The root and bole structure remain sequestering CO2 and is a carbon sink.

Describe the context in which you are operating

There is a huge prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease in the North of Sri Lanka as a result of the misuse of agro-chemicals, pesticides, fungicides etc which is of real concern to small farmers.
Prior to commencement of this business farmers had 200-500 Gliricidia trees on their single tree live fence and had little understanding on the value of Gliricidia leaves.
We have taught small farmers to plant 2000 trees on a triple live fence and the impact of the leaves on soil fertility and soil improvement. And how Gliricidia’s manifold properties can improve the farmer’s livelihood and health today.
Once the pellet plant is commissioned (2018) we will guarantee to purchasing Gliricidia branches for a 20 years, We will also use the IT system & our field operations to be a conduit for small holder farmers to sell other produce - cashew, sesame, turmeric, pepper, vanilla etc. to market.

How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?

To date our supply partners have planted c 80 Million Gliricidia trees. We aim to plant 1 Billion Gliricidia trees by 2022. ♣ Conducted over 600 farmer training programmes – a means of educating and registering farmers. ♣ Biomass Supplies has directly registered 40,000 small farmers as suppliers. All plant Gliricidia on a 3-row boundary fence and intercrop Gliricidia with their cash crops. We work in the North Central, North Western, and the former conflict zone Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka ♣ Approximately 2,000 Gliricidia trees per farmer. A Farmer saves between Rs. 4,000 - Rs. 20,000 on their agro-chemical inputs by converting their home garden to organic agriculture practices. ♣ We have also contracted with state-owned coconut plantations, private plantations, the Catholic Church and Buddhist temples to supply fuel wood. Biomass Supplies is the first smallholder project in Southeast Asia to earn Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterial (RSB) Certification. We are currently working on obtaining an island-wide certification.

Language(s)

Tamil, Sinhalese

Water

n/a

Food Security/Nutrition

n/a

Economic/Sustainable Development

Micro climate improvements

Climate

500 characters max.

Sustainability

This business was initially funded by HNW impact investors. We have now moved to institutional funding (InfraCo).
Once the 1st pellet plant is operational (2018) this this business will be self sustaining financially.

Return on investment

Supply - $5M. The business was recently valued at substantially more

How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?

We intend to replicate this business in countries on the equator where Gliricidia grows & there are many small holder farmers.

Overview