TRCPA - QL seems to be leaving a few bread crumbs around regarding their intentions for biomass. We should hear a lot more from them by way of their financials and the analysts that follow them.
Very soon QL will need to deal with the EFB's from their Indonesian plantation. 30,000 acres growing to 40,000 by 2015. The historical approach has been to simply burn the raw EFB's to create steam/heat and landfill most of it. I can't imagine the size of the landfill that would be needed for thousands of tons of EFB's. The gasses and toxins that would be created are exactly what QL has been against for many years. From a QL perspective then, the larger question has to be what will they do with the EFB's?
Looking back over the reorganization that QL has undertaken in the past few months, combined with the CDM, and the need to do something about the EFB's, it seems likely they will do something to convert the EFB's to biomass. Given the remote location of their Indonesian plantation it makes sense they will capture the methane and produce electricity for the palm oil mill. Selling excess electricity into the grid is always an option and also highly likely. This still doesn't do anything about the EFB's. Even if they own the landfill, trucking the waste to the landfill gets expensive. QL is made up of some very bright people and it simply doesn't make sense they would not create a profit center out of the biomass potential versus allowing the same material to become a cost burdern.
So how do they get that done? Well, the obvious and yet not the only option, is to stand up KDS's to process the EFB's into pellets. They could, of course, elect some other option and there are plenty of them available. St-Malo pointed out that greater production would require a more standard equipment base for large-scale pellet production. On its face that may be true. However, the risk of fire and explosion goes hand-in-glove with that type of equipment and operation. In a remote place such as QL's Indonesian plantation I don't believe it is an adequate solution though. The fire department isn't exactly around the corner should there be a problem. I believe this is one of the reasons why QL chose the KDS in the first place - it is much safer to operate.
Making an assumption that QL needs the equipment commissioned and available as the FFB's are processed or soon after implies a solution needs to be available by December or there about. Using that as a due date for the equipment to be operational, it would make sense the equipment orders would need to be in place within the next 30-60 days (between 8/31 and 9/30). QL would necessarily report this type of capital outlay in their up coming financials and the analysts will be all over the story.
In short, if QL is going with the KDS we should know much more about that plan along with their financials.
fwiw,
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