Sustainable Agricultures

Teak: An Overview

Although relatively unimportant in terms of the volume of world timber production, because of its strength and aesthetic qualities teak is the tropical hardwood most in demand for a specific market of "luxury" applications including furniture, shipbuilding and decorative building components. Consequently it is of major importance in the forestry economies of its main producing countries.

Experiences with growing and marketing teak are of considerable relevance to growers of other high-value hardwood species, particularly in the tropics. Species such as mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), red cedar (Cedrela odorata) and rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo) face similar challenges of competing in high-value niche markets, have longer growing cycles than many softwoods and present similar environmental concerns associated with harvesting from tropical forests. While some of the issues discussed here are largely unique to teak as a species, many are relevant to other valuable hardwood species.

During the past 20 years supplies of teak wood from natural forests have dwindled, consequently an increased interest has developed in the establishment of teak forest plantations.

With teak maintaining the status as one of the world's most valuable timbers, interest in growing and investing in the species will remain high in this economically viable solution to the production of much needed wood.

Advantages of Teak as a Timber Investment

Of all the tropical hardwood species, perhaps among all tree species, teak holds a particular fascination for both consumers and investors, much as gold does among the precious metals. Valued for more than 2,000 years as an extraordinarily durable construction timber in its native range in Asia, teak is now coveted worldwide. Its extremely high dimensional stability and unique aesthetic qualities keep it in high demand for shipbuilding and fine furniture manufacturing. Teak is also well suited for finishings such as door and window frames and any other applications that require a strong, stable, durable hardwood.

As the sustainable supply of teak from natural forests in Asia diminishes, demand for teak increases, and teak prices rise, we expect to see expanded production of plantation-grown teak. Teak cultivation has been the subject of research programs in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar since 1960, and best-practice techniques for producing high-quality plantation teak are well documented. Because teak is relatively easy to cultivate, has excellent growth rates, and provides a lucrative return, it is very suitable as a plantation timber species in areas with appropriate ecological conditions.

Investment in properly managed teak projects is a "win-win" situation in a country such as Sri Lanka, where government programs are in place to encourage reforestation. The investor makes a profit, new jobs are created, land is reclaimed, and there are long-lasting environmental benefits from tropical wood binding of carbon dioxide.

Penfield Group Ltd has investment opportunties in this specific area of sustainable agricultures. Read More about Penfield Group Ltd's investment opportunities..

Biomass is organic matter, such as fast growing trees and industrial/agricultural wastes, such as bagasse, that can be burned to produce energy, or converted into a gas and used for fuel. Biomass is a largely untapped energy resource. With a little work, biomass can be easily converted into a valuable source of heat and energy.

Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's energy through the process of photosynthesis, and this chemical energy is then passed on to the animals and people that eat them. When burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat. For example, burning and industrial/agricultural waste produces steam for making electricity or for providing heat to industries and homes.

There are many ways to convert biomass to energy. Biomass can be converted to other usable forms of energy like methane gas or transportation fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. Methane, the main ingredient of natural gas, is found when carbon based wastes decompose. These types of wastes are found in landfills, agricultural byproducts and human waste. Crops like corn and sugar cane can be fermented to produce the transportation fuel, ethanol.

Producing energy from biomass has both environmental and economic advantages. It is cost-effective when a local fuel source is used. Utilizing local resources results in local investment and employment. Furthermore, biomass can contribute to waste management by harnessing energy from products that are often disposed of at landfill sites. Eliminating disposal costs from a balance sheet or producing a valuable by-product, while simultaneously reducing energy costs result in significant savings and environmental benefits, all while helping to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Penfield's Commitment to Renewable Biomass Energy & Global Warming by using Nature's own Power Plants!

Through highly innovative agriculture and engineering research Penfield is working to grow, harvest, and use fast growing crops (called energy crop or closed loop biomass) and also biomass waste streams (e.g., bagasse) as renewable energy biofuel feedstock for:

Power Generation (electricity, steam, CHP)

Biogas for Manufacturing use (heat for product drying)

Ethanol production (e.g., sweet sorghum, sugarcane)

Biodiesel production

Goals & Objectives: Through collaboration in the fields of agriculture and biomass engineering technologies, the Penfield's focus is in four areas:

Displace Coal Use

Displace Oil Use

Create Sustainability / Increase Industrial Competitiveness:

By implementing innovative renewable and sustainable biomass energy technologies, not only can environmental (CO2) and energy independence (foreign oil imports) goals be realized -- but economies can gain competitiveness by lowering energy costs from fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal).

Biomass Energy & Global Warming: By remembering the basic science of photosynthesis, a key aspect of our biomass research effort can be easily understood. Since plants and trees absorb and store atmospheric carbon as they grow, growing and using biomass energy crops reduces the level of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

Biomass energy from crops are "carbon cycle neutral" just like other forms of renewable energy such as wind or solar power. Growing energy crops creates a "carbon sink" through terrestrial carbon sequestration by increasing soil organic matter/carbon through crop root systems and soil chemistry management practices such as:

Recycling the waste stream bagasse/presscake from ethanol feedstock (e.g., sorghum, sugarcane).

Using pro-active carbon management farming practices (e.g., no till, legume rotation crops, etc.).

Recycling the char from pyrolysis technologies (e.g., biochar from coking the pyrolytic liquids from the oxygen starved biomass gasification).

According to a United Nations whitepaper on biochar, the avoided emissions of greenhouse gases are between 2 and 5 times greater when biochar is applied to agricultural land than used solely for fossil energy offsets.

Because of this creation of a "carbon sink" (a component which solar and wind energy do not have), we believe that bioenergy from closed loop energy crops represents the most effective choice in "alternative energy" options to address Global Warming.