Alternative Energy (fka AENS)

[Lochan]

I made the call and spoke to Lee Blank about the Company's expansion. He said they expect the industry to consolidate which means the big fish will eat the little fish. AENS may acquire some other ethanol company even before its own plants are opened if the opportunity arises.

We spoke for some time and I have a few more things to report.
The main thing is that the vote to authorize additional shares is on Monday and some shareholders just received their proxy forms today. There is a slow response from Europe and the company may have to postpone the official vote until the
Europeans have had a chance to respond.

Otherwise, there are lots of positive developments. Mr. Blank said several banks are courting the company to provide financing even though it is tougher in the industry these days in general to finance such projects. They are negotiating the best bank deal as well as the best deal with construction companies. They might announce the construction company they have chosen next week.

As far as fuel is concerned, he said initially they will burn natural gas which he said is a very volatile energy source.
But the plants they build will very easily convert to biomass,
some form of coal, which would be done within a short time, and which would cost about one third as much as natural gas.

I asked about when working at ADM whether they had a non-compete clause in their contracts and he said they were employed by them "at-will". Only John Ward had a non-compete clause and it was forgiven by ADM's attorney. He said ADM was happy to see the new company created as new competition because they will have the same mindset, business style and corporate values.

He said AENS will definitely see ground-breaking in the fall.
He also indicated that he was very eager to have a P&L statement to study, which means we could certainly see an acquisition within one year, in other words, before our own plant is producing ethanol.

In general, he was very enthusiastic and eager to share information about the company. He was kind of annoyed about the article that referred to them as the Dynamic Duo, so I suggest we not bring it up in our discussions with them.

If I think of anything else of interest, I'll add to this later.