Strategically Located
Forbes Energy is presently focused on building a “closed-loop” sugarcane based ethanol production facility on the northern coast in the Dominican Republic. The northern coastal region of the Dominican Republic contains micro-climates holding some of the most productive sugarcane fields in the Caribbean basin. The country is centrally located between North and South America, providing easy access to the largest ethanol markets in the world. FED will possess unparalleled entry to the North American, South American, European and African markets through the Northern and Southern Atlantic shipping lanes. For instance, the logistical advantage will allow FED to deliver product to the three largest ethanol blending terminals in the United States within twenty-four to seventy-two hours: faster than any current sugarcane ethanol producer supplying the U.S. market. The project will also be in close proximity to the Panama Canal, providing access to the West Coast of the United States and other Pacific markets.
Low Cost, Environmentally Sustainable Production
The project will be a vertically integrated “feedstock to fuel” production model using the latest Brazilian technology proven at commercial scale volumes. All of the project’s sugarcane fields are located in an evenly distributed, contiguous manner surrounding the intended site of the coastally located processing plant. FED’s industrial site will maintain storage and docking infrastructure sufficient to handle the largest forms of ethanol marine transport. These advantages will create the opportunity to manufacture ethanol at the lowest point on the production cost curve. The facility’s capacity will built in phases to match the pace of agricultural development with the following attributes:
• “Closed Loop” facility design and sustainable agricultural practices that adhere to the IDB’s Biofuel Scorecard and the Better Sugarcane Initiative principles
• Anhydrous (“wet”) ethanol refining capacity
• Full ethanol production capacity
• 100% mechanized harvesting
• Sugarcane bagasse biomass electricity co-generation
• Carbon Credit generation
• Anaerobic Bio-Digester for methane recapture and production of organic fertilizer, and animal feed
