By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian biofuel producer yesterday described itself as “a coiled spring ready to explode” with ramped-up sales after four painstaking years of perfecting its product.

Scott Metcalf, Bahamas Sustainable Fuels’ general manager, told Tribune Business the company was “really at the tip of the iceberg” in terms of bringing reduced fuel costs, lower carbon emissions and a more environmentally-friendly product to corporate Bahamas for use in its vehicle fleets.

He disclosed that the joint venture between 700 Islands Energy and Bahamas Waste, which is the only licensed biofuel manufacturer in The Bahamas, is aiming to rapidly expand from the 250,000 gallons of biodiesel it generated in 2019 to fulfill its plant’s potential two million-gallon annual output through attracting more clients.

“We’re really at the tip of the iceberg,” Mr Metcalf said. “We’re right on the edge, and are like a coiled spring just waiting to go and make that explode exponentially through increasing our production and sales.

“Our base clients have been with us for four years making sure the product is right. Now we’re to the point we’ve reached all of our targets we need to make that explode. We just need to get those clients.”

Emphasising that Bahamas Sustainable Fuels is targeting measured growth that will allow it to build plant and staffing capacity as demand increases, Mr Metcalf added: “One of the main things is not trying to get to 100m gallons of diesel straight away. I’d rather do it in steps.

“As demand grows we will make sure we can meet the demand. I’m anticipating an increase in sales but not a big rush to 500 clients saying they want biodiesel. It will take time to build demand.

“Ideally we need to get three to four clients the size of Bahamas Waste taking 10,000-15,000 gallons a month. That would be the boost we need.”

Bahamas Waste sold a majority 51 percent interest in its then-fledgling biodiesel business to 700 Islands Energy, headed by president Happy Hall, in early 2016 for the sum of $180,433.

The move, which left the BISX-listed waste services provider as a minority 49 percent provider, has brought greater focus and attention to the biodiesel business through 700 Islands Energy’s management rather than it being a small component of a much larger publicly traded company.

Mr Hall yesterday argued that The Bahamas needed to place more focus on renewable, environmentally-friendly fuels rather than just be consumer by solar energy.

Pointing out that Bahamas Sustainable Fuels is targeting commercial vehicle fleets, boats and generators with a product that can be blended with diesel to suit a specific customer’s requirements, Mr Hall said the business he acquired was “not sustainable” as it was simply producing fuel solely for use in Bahamas Waste’s vehicles.

Paying tribute to the BISX-listed firm’s vision in starting the biodiesel initiative, Mr Hall said Bahamas Sustainable Fuels currently provides its product to companies such as Ports International (which he also runs); Young’s Fine Wines; Bahama Blue; Proline Construction; Nassau Machinery; and Sagoma Construction.

“The only way to make this manufacturing facility sustainable is to go to the market. Now we’re ready,” Mr Hall added. “Since 2018 we’ve been a well-oiled machine, and we wanted to make sure there were no hiccups when we went to market. We’re more than there now. I’m more than confident to put my name and Bahamas Waste’s name to it.”

Bahamas Sustainable Fuels extracts its biodiesel from the waste cooking oil recovered from 70 collection points at New Providence’s major hotels, restaurants and fast food eateries - even from the cruise lines.

It produces multiple blends through combining the recovered biodiesel with petroleum diesel, its most popular blend being B20 - a mixture of 80 percent diesel and 20 percent biodiesel.

Mr Metcalf explained that “the higher the blend of biodiesel the cheaper the price”, meaning the greater the proportion of biodiesel used, the higher the cost savings to companies. He added that Bahamas Waste last year acquired 155,000 gallons of biodiesel from its affiliate, producing fuel cost savings of $77,500.

“You don’t have to make any modifications to your engines or assets to use our fuel,” Mr Metcalf added. “A lot of people think they have to, but that is only for the higher blends of 80 percent to 100 percent biodiesel.

“That’s the biggest issue, but I think we can get the picture across pretty quickly. ‘What’s the modification cost?’ is the first question I get asked and, once it’s clarified that no modification is required, it changes their outlook.

“Trying something new takes a little bit of courage to make that initial jump, and if you’re not educated about it, it may seem too big a risk.”

Mr Metcalf added that the only thing new biodiesel users needed to be aware of was the requirement to regularly change their fuel filters during the first three months of the transition due to the fact that the fuel’s purity often removed scale that had built up in the vehicle’s tank.

Bahamas Sustainable Fuels said switching to its biodiesel can potentially reduce costs by up to $0.25 per gallon depending on the diesel pump price, meaning that a 50-gallon truck paying as much as $2.60-$3 per gallon of diesel could be saving up to $12.50 per fill up.

Mr Hall added that the company’s B20 biodiesel blend produces 78 percent less carbon dioxide than traditional diesel fuel, while also lowering hydrocarbon emissions by 67 percent. Switching to it from traditional diesel fuel could also lower the production of air toxins and cancer-causing compounds by 27 percent.

“The Bahamas made a commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2033,” Bahamas Sustainable Fuels said. “Biodiesel produces 2,661 grams of carbon dioxide per gallon, compared to 12,360 grams per gallon for petroleum diesel fuel.

“While up to date data is not readily available, the National Energy Policy reports that in 2007 the country produced 6.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita.

“This number feels woefully low. Since 2016, Bahamas Sustainable Fuels has produced approximately 341,905 gallons of B20 blend biodiesel, which means that it has removed roughly 181.77 metric tons of carbon emissions from the air in the four years it has been producing.”