Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show, heard on the radio and seen online at TheBusinessMakers.com. My guest today is James Garton, President of Mission New Energy USA. James, welcome to the show.

James: Thanks Russ.

Russ: Well let's start right on the top, man. You tell us about Mission New Energy USA.

James: Russ, we are an alternative energy company. We operate biodiesel refineries in Southeast Asia but probably our biggest claim to fame is our commanding position as the world's largest Jatropha plantation operation. Jatropha if you're not familiar with it is a tree that grows where principally nothing else will grow and it produces seeds and inside the seed is oil. It's a non-edible oil that can readily be turned into diesel or jet fuel. Our company takes that oil, refines it and sells bio-fuels.

Russ: Okay. Now I know a little bit about Jatropha and this comment that you make, non-edible, is perhaps the key aspect that makes it very different than any other bio-fuel that I'm familiar with at least.

James: Yeah, certainly. The first phases of bio-fuels were to take normal vegetable oils and turn them into the fuel. We quickly thought that that probably wasn't the right way to go. So develop this non-edible source and by that I mean it is not only not something you would want to eat either animal or human but also grows on land where you wouldn't grow food crops. It's those two components that make it really sustainable in our world.

Russ: That's real cool. I - it wasn't really popular over here when suddenly the price of popcorn went up a year or so ago. This seems to really make a lot of sense. Okay, now tell me a little more about the company. Where's the company based? Where is the Jatropha grown?

James: Well this is truly a global effort. We have our refining operations in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. We have our plantation or India growing operations in India spread out across five different states in India. Our headquarters though is in Australia. We're an Australian based business but we've recently moved into the United States with Mission USA headquartered in San Antonio.

Russ: You are the President of Mission USA, right?

James: I'm very pleased to be, yes.

Russ: Okay, cool. Now I understand the location too in Australia is actually Western Australia. Is that right?

James: That's right. Yeah, it's on the same time zone as Southeast Asia and happened to be a terrific spot as well.

Russ: All right. Really cool. Now how old is the company?

James: We formed in 2003, listed on the Australia Stock Exchange in 2006 and just recently on the NASDAQ Exchange in 2011.

Russ: The company's in business bringing in revenue today? Is that right?

James: Certainly, yeah. We've been operating our bio-diesel refineries in Malaysia since about middle of 2008. We've been producing product and primarily selling that into Europe. We started planting Jatropha in '07. So that first oil came online last year. With that oil coming on line we're now seeking to distribute that here into the United States and hence the establishment of offices in San Antonio.

Russ: In fact I definitely want to go back to where you're growing the Jatropha and talk about that but you mentioned San Antonio. Here we are in Dallas, Texas today. In fact I just sort of thinking of your mission and the kind of customers that you want I think that has a little bit to do with why you're in Dallas, Texas now and you're aiming at this transportation sector that I find extremely fascinating to be using a bio-fuels for. Talk about that a bit.

James: Well there's been some major recent developments in the aviation fuel in particular. The Standards Board has, as of just last week, approved the use of a 50 percent blend of bio-fuels for the aviation market. Now of course being here in Dallas, major airline hub of all of the United States is a key effort for us as the world's largest Jatropha player where Jatropha has been identified as the key raw material supply for the production of that aviation fuel. So we're here to see what type of opportunities there are for us in the aviation market in addition to just the transport fuel market.

Russ: Really cool. So I'm curious. Are they listening to you or do they not even let you in the door right now?

James: Well at the moment it's very much letting us in the door. In fact there's high demand for vegetable oils and feed materials. It's been identified by pretty much all participants with a whole array of military and commercial aviation that the key component to a long term bio-fuel for aviation is the underlying raw material, the feed stock. It being non-edible and being really inexpensive is a critical component. Mission has a commanding position so we're welcome at the moment.

Russ: Okay. I'm talking with James Garton, President of Mission New Energy USA. Now I asked that question about if you're having any success knowing that you are too because we're also going to interview actually some of your advisory board members afterwards that include ex-military people, that even include huge airline company executives as well. What about the pilots, man? I mean do they worry about this fuel?

James: I think that's the really cool part about it is that the fuel that we produce from the Jatropha plant is indivisible. It's the same molecule, so to speak. So with all of the testing that's been done for the use of a Jatropha based jet fuel there is no concern from the pilot side. In fact my guess is they're quite pleased to not be putting quite so many pollutants in the air by operating via jet fuel.

Russ: Sure. I'm also certainly that they're always totally tuned into the price of fuel these days. Sort of any additional fuel has got to be good news in that regard, too. Really cool. So let's talk now about growing Jatropha. I mean you mentioned Asia. You mentioned India. Do you have farms there? What's going on?

James: We work for our contract farming. That means that we have now some 140,000 farmers that directly grow for us. The way that works is that they grow the Jatropha plant where nothing else will grow. So in that way we provide an incremental crop for them to be able to make money from that otherwise that land would sit barren and idle. So by utilizing the technology platform that we've developed to help and assist small farmers to do all of the things you have to do to successfully grow a plant we've been able to grow from no acres in '07 to just over 200,000 acres managed by these 140,000 individual farmers. We've done that in just three years.

Russ: Oh my goodness. Well are they - I don't understand that much about Jatropha. Does it grow in the wild, number one, and number two, are these farmers that just happen to have it growing in the wild? Are they actually planting it and cultivating it?

James: We've approached them to plant and cultivate on our behalf. The genesis though of Jatropha was that it was used as a hedge. Because it's non-edible it was put up as a fortification, a barrier if you will for the food crops of the farmers. We've simply developed a technical capability to enable our farmers to plant it out for the purposes of generating fuel as opposed to it being a barrier or a hedge. It's a thick weed. Consider a six foot high tall tree that's about six foot wide, very densely leafed that fruits every year. Again, inside the fruit are the seeds. Inside the seed is 30 percent oil, raw oil. What we've done that's unique is developed the methodology to train them, support the farmers, utilizing the technology to allow us to then pull that oil out at just $64.00 a barrel.

Russ: Wait a minute. $64.00? Oil has been up and down and all over $100.00 for quite some time and it's still way up there. So you can make it for less than petroleum oil gasoline?

James: That's right. Right now at $64.00 a barrel without any subsidies from the government -

Russ: No subsidies?

James: No subsidies.

Russ: That's amazing James.

James: We think that by increasing the value of the byproducts from the tree - remember the oil is inside the seed. When you crush the seed it also has the seed cake. It's highly valuable material. We think we can drive that down even lower.

Russ: Real cool. So what do these farmers think when you approach them? I mean do they think you've lost your mind and why would you want to grow this and harvest it?

James: Well I think the proof is ultimately in the pudding. We've gone from none to 140,000 that have signed up and are actively growing for us. But I think I would, too. If you think about it like this you get to plant this where you're making no money and nothing else will grow. We support you and provide you with the sapling to begin with. We then provide you with a 30 year annuity income that doubles your earning. I think I might sign up.

Russ: All right. Now 30 years, that means that's sort of the length of life of the plant actually?

James: Yeah. The plant grows. It's not like a crop. It's - considered an apple tree. You plant it. Over the course of one or two years it grows and gets bigger. More branches come and then it reaches maturity and every year keeps giving you fruit. Inside the fruit's the seed. So from their perspective you plant it. We support you the whole way and then it keeps bearing fruit. You literally get to keep reaping the harvest of your labor.

Russ: I told you before we even sat down that I've done several sustainable alternative energy interviews and I've heard of Jatropha before, too. The way this sounds it sounds so good James. It's almost too good to be true. Are others trying to evolve and develop a Jatropha petroleum, a fuel as well?

James: There's certainly other participants and I think the important thing is that we need hundreds of Mission size companies to fill the void. It is a very good thing to do but it's really difficult to operate and manage hundreds of thousands of farmers. So because of the fact that it's not irrigated and it's not fertilized, growing on poor quality soil it's of a lower yielding variety. So a lot of participants that have or wanted to get into the market in a major corporate fashion struggle with how to organize that. Our ability to do it via small holder farmer is the key to our success.

Russ: Okay, really cool. I can sort of feel your passion for what you do. I mean I might feel passionate if I was solving a lot of farmers' problems and at the same time an energy problem at the same time, a clean energy problem. Obviously you're Australia. You were born in Australia.

James: Sure.

Russ: How did you evolve to the Mission President of the U.S. arm of this and is your background mostly in fuel or agriculture or both?

James: Well I'm one of those unfortunate breeds from the finance game whereby I was -

Russ: Finance?

James: Yes. I was the investment banker for the business for many years and saw what they were doing through many hours of traipsing around fields in India and looking at the company and joined the team officially in 2008. But having been involved with them since their original listing in 2006 from that I was responsible I guess for the work with Valero in the United States and that led me to be the natural choice to head up efforts here in the U.S.

Russ: So the work with Valero is that what brought you to the United States?

James: Yeah. The end of 2009 we did a landmark bio-diesel deal where we sold some ten years of supply, $3.5 billion worth of bio-fuels to Valero. So as a result I'm not located of course in San Antonio - it's where Mission is - where Valero's headquarters are. So that's been the genesis of why we wanted to come to the United States. We think it's going to be the biggest market for bio-fuels on the planet.

Russ: Okay. Investment banker, that means did you go to University in Australia?

James: I didn't actually. I went to University in Texas, Texas A&M. So there's my agricultural background.

Russ: All right, cool.

James: Having done degrees in finance and economics though it led me directly to heading into the banking and finance world and alternative energy and bio-fuels being such an explosive space really dialed me straight into that to begin with and what Mission's doing after having financed dozens and dozens of bio-fuels businesses and seeing what Mission had to offer was too compelling to be true. So I got involved directly.

Russ: Great. Well I really appreciate you sharing your story with us.

James: My pleasure Russ. It was great to be here.

Russ: You bet. In fact we're going to follow this up with a discussion with three of your advisory board members here in the U.S. that I think are equally passionate about the mission -

James: Terrific.

Russ: - the mission of Mission New Energy USA. This is the BusinessMakers Show heard on the radio and seen online at TheBusinessMakers.com