April
13, 2010.
Global
Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. (“Global”) Issues Letter to
Shareholders
LOS
ANGELES--(GlobeNewswire via COMTEX))—April 13, 2010. Global Clean
Energy Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB:GCEH-News) issues the following Letter to
Shareholders:
To All
GCEH Shareholders:
As
President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc.
(GCEH), I would like to thank you for your continued support and take time to
report on the many achievements we have accomplished over the past
year.
As you
know, the recent global financial crisis has affected most companies, including
ours, most specifically in our ability to raise capital. We used this
time as an opportunity to focus on our existing energy farming operations and to
finalize the sale of the remaining assets of our legacy business.
I am more
enthusiastic and optimistic today about this industry, and the direction we
chose than I have ever been. I am so convinced that we are following
the right course and will be successful in our endeavors that I personally
acquired more than 50 million shares of GCEH common stock recently.
Some of
our accomplishments since my last letter include:
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1.
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We
completed our transformation from a medical research company to an energy
company by finalizing the sale of our legacy medical
assets.
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2.
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We
reduced long term liabilities by more than $2.9
million.
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3.
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We
increased our asset base by more than $4
million.
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4.
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We
paid off our only corporate-secured
loan.
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5.
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We
generated net income of $.009 per
share.
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6.
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We
completed planting of our 5,150 acre Jatropha farm in
Mexico.
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7.
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We
acquired an additional 3,500 acres of land in Mexico through our existing
joint venture to expand our 5,150 acre Jatropha
farm.
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8.
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We
transitioned from a development-stage company to an operating company with
recurring revenues.
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9.
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We
started generating revenues from seeds sales through our Technology
Alternatives, Ltd (TAL) operation in Belize and our farm in
Mexico.
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10.
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We
generated development and management fees by providing management and
consulting services to partners and third
parties.
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11.
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We
distributed seeds for use in propagation at other Jatropha farms, and we
provided Jatropha oil and biomass for conversion into fossil fuel
alternatives and for combustion
testing.
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12.
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We
designed, constructed and began operation of a fully operational seed oil
extraction facility to support our farming operation in
Mexico.
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13.
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We
expanded our joint genetic plant research efforts with a leading U.S.
agricultural and plant sciences university, and established a
state-of-the-art field research center for the continued development of
selected high-producing Jatropha
varietals.
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14.
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We
raised more than $3.5 million in project financing and corporate
equity.
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15.
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We
expanded our Board of Directors to include a seasoned, energy project
developer and operator.
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The
completion of planting of the 5,150 acre farm that we own in Mexico, is a
significant milestone for the company, and we believe this makes our Jatropha
farm the largest in the Americas, to date. This tree is very
efficient in its ability to convert sunlight into a liquid and solid fuel on
land that is not conducive to producing other crops. We have planted almost 4
million Jatropha trees; and if placed end-to-end, at their current spacing of
1.5 meters, our trees would reach from San Diego, CAto Portland, ME and then
down to Washington, DC.
Last
month we acquired an additional 3,500 acres in Mexico to expand our primary
Jatropha farm, and we expect to be making offers on an additional 1,500 acres in
the next 60 days. We expect to have a significant amount of the recently
purchased land fully planted this calendar year. The new land is
contiguous to our existing farm and will provide improved economies of scale and
reduced logistics costs. Preparation and planting costs are expected to be a
fraction of the cost of the base farm as we’ll be able to take advantage of
economies of scale as well as prior knowledge and experience.
Transitioning
from a development stage company to a true operating company is a turning point
for our company. We are now generating recurring revenues from
three of our operating units. We have sold our legacy medical assets,
discontinued any further development activities in that field and no longer have
the on-going costs to maintain those assets. As a result of our
efforts; we can now focus on our core business of planting oil bearing trees
which produce a cost effective renewable alternative to fossil
fuels.
Over this
past year, we continued to see a lot of volatility in energy prices with strong
support to the floor price of crude oil near $80 per barrel. The heated debate
over converting food into fuel continues to burn strong, and we are more
encouraged than ever that our strategy of using non-food based sources for
biofuels is the best approach. Furthermore, the U.S. political and
regulatory arena continues to support biofuels with the U.S. EPA’s National
Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) program, which mandates the growing use of
biofuels and requires suppliers to verify the energy required to grow their
feedstock. This is very good for Jatropha, as it requires the lowest
energy input for the highest benefit of all the feedstock commercially available
today. We are also seeing growing support internationally for the use of
biofuels produced from non-food based sources and the ban on certain feedstock
which are not beneficial to the environment. We are convinced, as are
most experts that once the world economy recovers, the demand for crude oil will
push significantly higher and the price will continue to rise. This
market dynamic will improve our revenues and overall business economics. The
U.S. Department of Energy has predicted crude oil prices to rise to well over
$130 per barrel.
We have
worked diligently on the refinement of our “Best Practices Model” for all of our
operations and we continue to invest in the development of our Intellectual
Property (IP) through genetic research, soil science development and improved
agricultural technologies. All of these “Best Practices” and “IP Development”
efforts will have a positive effect on the yield from our trees, while driving
costs down and profit margins up. These investments will ensure we are well
positioned to be the global leader and low cost producer in this space. As our
farms mature and we continue to aggressively manage all of our operating costs,
we expect to produce Crude Jatropha Oil (CJO) well below $1.00 per gallon, or
less than $42 per barrel.
Today we
own more than 8,800 acres of Jatropha farms in Mexico and Belize. We continue to
aggressively prepare land and plant Jatropha daily. Our target is to more than
double our Jatropha farm holdings over the next year and a half as promised, we
have successfully generated revenue from our Jatropha production and farm
management activities in FY 2009.
We
continue to be excited about the positive attention that Jatropha is receiving
around the world. The recent announcements by General Motors and the
Department of Energy for the continued research into Jatropha, the
past NASA space shuttle flight which carried Jatropha seeds for germination
testing in space, and the continued flight testing of Jatropha based fuels by a
multitude of airlines, solidifies our belief that this plant has tremendous
potential and will continue to attract a lot of scientific attention and
development effort--pushing it forward as the best commercially viable biofuels
feedstock. It is very likely that the Jatropha curcas tree will be
the first tree that is commercialized utilizing modern day
genomics. This is a tremendous
statement. Independent testing of Jatropha oil has proven it to be the
highest quality feedstock for biofuels. Any negative press that the plant has
seen can be attributed to bad business models, and poor farming and management
methods. GCEH’s business strategy and operational processes are
designed so that we do not make those mistakes. We are confident that our plan
is solid and highly scalable.
The
environmental and social aspects of our business cannot be ignored or
underestimated. The trees we are planting will provide significant
CO2
sequestration by capturing carbon in the trees, and the oil and biomass we
produce will provide significant offsets to fossil fuel usage. Finally, there is
an added benefit in that we are using land that has been primarily
non-productive and developing it into working energy farms.
Along
with the environmental benefits generated, we are making enormous social strides
as well--especially with our farm employees. We currently
employ in excess of 160 workers on our farms in Mexico and expect to expand that
to more than 300 by the end of the year. Most of these employees are
from the neighboring villages. Most of these workers were unemployed
and many had never been employed before. We are teaching them a
usable trade and helping them become productive members of their
community. They are provided with health insurance and life insurance
and pay taxes, which contributes to their retirement and social security
fund. The workers and their families are provided with semi-annual
vaccinations, vitamin shots and ongoing health education. The local village that
borders our larger farm was recently provided with a full time doctor and has
just ordered its own ambulance. All farm workers receive their
pay through a direct deposit into a bank account, which is established for them
upon employment. They are able to access their funds at the bank or through an
ATM card and are beginning to develop their own credit. Most of them
had never had a bank account before working on our farms. These
personal milestones have helped create a sense of pride in our
employees. GCEH also contributes to the community in other ways, such
as sponsoring the local baseball team and providing supplies to the local
schools.
The sense
of community is very important to us and remains a central part of our
business.
This is a
very exciting time for us and the industry. We wanted to thank each
of you for your continued support, and I look forward to reporting to you on our
further accomplishments as they develop.
Sincerely,
Richard
Palmer
President
and Chief Executive Officer
Global
Clean Energy Holdings, Inc.
About
Global Clean Energy Holdings
Global
Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. is an emerging renewable agri-energy company focused
on the production of non-food based feedstock used as replacement for fossil
fuels. More information regarding Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc.
can be found at www.gceholdings.com
Caution
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any
statements in this letter about Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. expectations,
beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not
historical facts and are forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). These statements are
often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as
"believe," “feel”, "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "plan,"
"forecast," "could," and "would”. Examples of such forward looking statements
include statements regarding the timing, design, scope, and anticipated results
of its efforts to plant, harvest, and commercialize feedstock oil from Jatropha
curcas in Mexico. Global Clean Energy Holdings bases these forward-looking
statements on current expectations about future events. They involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results,
levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. Some of the risks,
uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ
materially from estimates or projections in the forward-looking statement
include, but are not limited to, the risk that we might not be able to raise
sufficient funds to develop the Jatropha plantations in Mexico, that we may face
delays or other difficulties in acquiring and cultivating Jatropha farm lands in
Mexico, that we may not be able to successfully commercialize Jatropha oil as
expected, that the market for our Jatropha products will not grow as expected,
and the risk that the Mexican Jatropha project will not achieve expectations
because of the risks normally associated with creating a new business in a new
market. For additional information about risks and uncertainties Global Clean
Energy Holdings, Inc. faces, see the documents that Global Clean Energy
Holdings, Inc. has filed with the SEC. Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. claims
the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements under the Act,
and assumes no obligation and expressly disclaims any duty to update any
forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of
this news release or to reflect the occurrence of subsequent
events.
Contact:
Global
Clean Energy Holdings, Inc.
Merilee
Myers at mmyers@gceholdings.com