Here in Kentucky we have a number of renewable energy companies looking to take “out-of-the-box” thinking to a new level in the green economy. One such company is One World Clean Energy, a renewable energy development company that has developed an innovative model for energy production, the OWCE Integrated Biorefinery. To build a company today in the space of renewables means traveling far from the borders of our own state. One World Clean Energy CEO Bill Bivins recently returned from a series of meetings set up by the U.S. Department of Commerce to Africa.
The CEO of One World Clean Energy, Inc. says his company’s inclusion on a U.S. Trade Mission to South Africa last month has led to unprecedented success for the start-up. The OWCE Integrated Biorefinery produces energy that is cost-competitive with fossil fuels but produces no net waste and almost no emissions.
“This Trade Mission is one of the best things that ever happened to my business,” Bivins says. “The potential for business growth in Africa is huge. I got at least ten potential sales opportunities, made connections with companies that offer complementary services and secured our first Letter of Intent to build an integrated biorefinery. It was incredible.”
Bivins offers high praise for the U.S. Department of Commerce team that organized the South Africa Trade Mission, which included stops in Johannnesburg and Cape Town. “The DoC set up meetings for us with public and private sector leaders and gave us the information we needed to succeed in those meetings and form profitable partnerships. Every small business looking to export should take advantage of the services the Department of Commerce has to offer.”
Michael Camuñez, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance, served as leader of the South Africa Trade Mission and says, “American companies like One World Clean Energy are poised to play a critical role in helping South Africa meet its energy challenges, to which the country will devote significant resources in the coming years. We’re extremely pleased that we were able to help One World Clean Energy and other companies on the Trade Mission make connections in South Africa that will help them expand their businesses and put Americans back to work.”
The construction of the first OWCE Integrated Biorefinery for export will create up to 250 jobs in South Africa and will employ up to 100 engineers and skilled-trade workers in the U.S.
Outside of Africa, the Asian and Australian markets are also critical to our energy grid worldwide, and full of opportunities. OWCE recently took on a partnership with Jernigan Commodities. Based in Australia, Jernigan Commodities is a global provider of food security and price risk management services to large institutional producers and consumers of agricultural commodities.
Ethanol Producer magazine reported that Jernigan Commodities joins EarthWorks, Industrial Construction Group, Gasoline Equipment Systems and the World Economic Development Alliance on the list of OWCE strategic partners.
