The agave to energy opportunity

October 2023

Contents

About Vircura

Vircura is a plant-based technology company researching, cultivating, processing and manufacturing industrial hemp, agave and other plant-based products to improve health, wellbeing and sustainability.

About Vircura

The company is establishing agave plantations and a state-of-the-art tissue culture facility to significantly increase the number of agave plants available to Australian and international markets.

Agave uses

Agave characteristics

Agave to hydrogen technology

Agave to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)

Sharing the opportunities

Vircura plans on forging an agave industry in Australia to provide a pathway to more efficient biofuel and biogas production.

Partnering with farmers

Agave, traditionally used to produce tequila, has a stem containing fructan and spiky leaves rich in fibre and fermentable sugars. It thrives on a wide range of land conditions from subtropical to semi-arid due to its own water management system. Agave uses

Agave characteristics

Agave is proven to produce up to 800 tonnes of biomass per hectare from three to six years after planting. Agave can grow in Australia on land which is currently:

A perennial, rather than an annual crop, agave can be harvested on demand, 12 months per year, providing a constant, year-round source of biomass for the processer and consumer. As shown in the below table, agave has shown to significantly outperform sugarcane, a crop that has traditionally been used for biomass feedstock. Agave is drought proof and fire resistant and ideally suited to withstand climate change impacts.

• • • •

under-utilised,

low cost,

not used for food production and

low rainfall.

Growing on land of such conditions can produce high-yielding crops with minimal inputs, providing a pathway to more efficient, carbon neutral, biofuel and biogas production.

In recent years, the diversity of the plant’s merits has attracted considerable attention in the science, food and fuel industries. Agave has a range of uses, including: • biomass feedstock for green hydrogen, renewable diesel, bioethanol and sustainable aviation fuel. For example, the juice can be directly converted to green hydrogen;

• land reclamation such as mining towns;

• agave spirit;

Conditions

Sugarcane

Agave

• agave syrup;

Land competition

High (optimal land)

Low (marginal land)

• potential for carbon sequestration credits;

Climate

Tropical

Sub-tropics to semi-arid

Chemical requirements/fertiliser

High

Low

•

inulin (dietary fibre); and

Irrigation/water requirements

Yes/high

No/low

• hand sanitiser.

Sugars/starch

10-14%

15-25%

• fibre for industrial uses such as electricity, building materials, biogas and cattle feed;

Agri value of land/demand as food Very high

Low

Agave to hydrogen technology

Agave to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)

Vircura is in discussions with green hydrogen technology companies with the aim to convert agave juice to hydrogen and carbon dioxide, with multiple end point uses, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Green hydrogen can be created directly from agave juice, on-site at low-cost. The juice has high-energy density, a benign sugar juice which can be easily and safely transported.

The agave plant can be used to produce bioethanol which is an alternative to fossil fuels. Bioethanol is made by fermenting the sugars in the crushed and treated plant biomass with yeast or bacteria. The bioethanol can be converted to jet fuel by further processing pathways, often involving catalysts, and can even be made from green hydrogen.

This addresses the traditional hydrogen challenge of high cost storage and transportation requirements. The agave to hydrogen technology uses less water and less power than electrolysis, resulting in a more sustainable solution, that can be easily distributed.

Agave provides a rich source of sugars. The plant biomass can be separated into juice and fibre fractions prior to fermentation and conversion to SAF or the entire plant can be used as a feedstock. As the plant fixes carbon during its growth the resultant fuel has a lower greenhouse gas emission footprint than other fuel types.

Sharing the opportunities The Australian agave industry is currently in its infancy, with commercial agave spirit production only occurring in Queensland, although there are trial plantations across most states. Most Central and Northern Queensland regional areas provide highly suitable conditions for agave farms. A good example is the mining town Collinsvale, which is serviced by a railway and provides ideal conditions for growth and transport.

Partnering with farmers

Vircura’s mission to forge the agave industry in Australia complements Queensland’s regional development plan, in the support for regional upskilling and employment opportunities in townships as well as for land reclamation projects in mining towns. It is an opportunity for Australia to be a strong exporter of biomass feedstock for green hydrogen production and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Vircura welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with Queensland based researchers and industry to further enhance this sustainable business opportunity.

In partnership with innovative farmers, Vircura wishes to initiate large scale agave plantations at farms across a wide range of regions in Queensland and other states and territories. Vircura aims to provide large scale biomass feedstock to revolutionary biotechnologies such as hydrogen, renewable diesel, bioethanol, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) whilst also reducing greenhouse gas. Agave can grow in many different conditions which will appeal to farmers in marginal rural areas.

Giving further credence to the plant is AgriFutures Australia’s recent publication of a compact business case on agave’s acceptance as an emerging agricultural sector, and Vircura’s recently awarded grant to develop agave as an emerging crop. The business case identified current plant production cost as a challenge to a viable industry. Vircura has overcome this challenge by investing in state-of-the-art plant propagation technology which will produce plants at a feasible cost and is considering production of up to 10 million plants per annum to meet expected future demand. At a planting rate of 5,000 plants per hectare, the opportunities for farmers in marginal regional areas is immense.

47 King William St Kent Town SA 5067 Kaurna Country vircura.com hello@vircura.com 1300 450 903 The agave to energy opportunity

October 2023

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