Israeli Firm Backs Off Biodiesel Production Venture

from Globes Online:
Merav Ankori 7 Jan 08 16:45

Ormat Industries Ltd. (TASE: ORMT) today announced that it was postponing plans to develop and build a commercial biodiesel facility at this time. The company added that it had invested $1.8 million to date in R&D in the project to date, which would be reported in the company's profit and loss statement.

Ormat announced 18 months ago that it would invest $35-50 million in a biodiesel production facility within two years. The company said at the time that it would invest $13.5 million in R&D in the venture over five years. Ormat is collaborating with an academic institution, whose identity it declines to disclose, and with Evogene Ltd. (TASE:EVGN) on the development of high-yield non-edible plants for biodiesel production. Ormat added that it would focus on the development of these plants.

Ormat is foregoing construction of the biodiesel plant because prices for commodities, including commodities for biofuel production, have soared rendering biodiesel much more expensive to the point of being economically unviable. For example, prices for soy beans, one of the crops used in biofuel production, has risen from $3-4 per bushel over the past year to $12.

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