Earth Day brought good news for Barbadian green energy entrepreneur Handel Callender: on April 22nd, Amelot Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded company headquartered in New York, announced that it had signed a letter of intent to acquire Callender’s small company Native Sun NRG, which produces biodiesel from used vegetable oils recycled from hotels and restaurants on Barbados.

Biodiesel is a non-petroleum-based diesel fuel which can be used (alone, or blended with conventional diesel) in unmodified diesel-engined vehicles and Native Sun NRG is the first company in Barbados to commercially produce biodiesel. 

The operation, run by Callender himself, currently produces about 400 liters of biodiesel a week which he sells to three clients.  By some estimates, Barbados currently generates sufficient volumes of used cooking oils to produce approximately 3.6 million liters of biodiesel a year, which could replace about 3% of the country’s diesel fuel imports annually.

Because its basic raw material is a recycled waste that has already passed through the food consumption chain, Callender’s biodiesel avoids the stigma recently associated with biofuels – that their production diverts resources from the production of food, thus reducing food supply and driving up food prices.

President of Amelot Holdings Aziz Hirji said his company was pleased with the opportunity provided by its acquisition.  "We feel this addition to our company will provide us and our shareholders with the necessary tools to be truly successful in the biodiesel industry."

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