juwi and areal to build world

- Palaterra joint venture develops revolutionary humus substrate for market
- \"Dark earth\" contributes to climate protection and world food supply

Woerrstadt - The juwi Group and Joachim Böttcher, head of areal GmbH, today founded the joint venture Palaterra GmbH&Co.KG at juwi’s company headquarters in Wörrstadt, Germany. In this joint venture, juwi and areal together will produce and market a groundbreaking new product, which will make an important contribution not only toward solving world hunger but also to climate protection: Terra Preta, or \"dark earth\". In nearby Hengstbacherhof, Rhineland-Palatinate, areal and juwi are currently building the world’s first production facility for the new Terra Preta. This pilot plant is to be followed by additional facilities throughout Europe.

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Amazonian civilizations created \"dark earth\" using crop remains and organic waste from their cities and villages. They made the poor soil of the rainforest so fertile that Terra Preta has been called the \"gold of the earth\". But these advanced civilizations disappeared – and with them the formula for the revolutionary humus substrate. Scientists have been trying to reconstruct this formula for decades without success – until now. A research team led by plant and soil expert Joachim Böttcher, head of areal GmbH, has now succeeded in cracking the code and translating it into modern industrial methods and production processes. \"We have solved the puzzle. We are the first and the only ones – in the world – who can now produce Terra Preta,\" says Böttcher.

Today in Wörrstadt, Böttcher and juwi launched a joint venture to bring this \"gold of the earth\" to customers worldwide: Palaterra GmbH&Co.KG. After the pilot facility in Hengstbacherhof, Palaterra (from \"Palatinate\") plans to build the world’s first large-scale production plant for the new Terra Preta in 2010 in the Morbach Energy Landscape in the Hunsrück region. The Morbach plant will be a prelude to other projects in Europe. \"We have developed the ‘dark earth’ for market. The new Terra Preta provides a key to solving two of the central problems of our planet: Not only can it help feed the earth’s people, but it will also help protect the world’s climate,\" says juwi CEO Matthias Willenbacher.

In Morbach, the Palaterra joint venture will produce the new product, Terra Preta, in a unique biowaste cycle. The basis for the production, in addition to thus-far unused biomass potential from the region (such as yard waste), is the more than 40,000 tons of digestate produced each year as a byproduct of the biogas plants in the Morbach Energy Landscape. While the solid components of the digestate from the biogas plants are largely processed into a humus substrate during Terra Preta production, the liquid components, after undergoing various stages of treatment, can be used to irrigate energy crops. \"This ingenious cycle of materials is unique and provides a future-oriented, regional value creation, with optimal use and reuse of all materials,\" explains Jürgen Bohn, head of juwi Bio GmbH.


About Terra Preta

Terra Preta (http://www.palaterra.eu and http://www.das-gold-der-erde.de) comprehensively improves commercial soil – without harming the environment. It improves land productivity while conserving resources. It also supports ecological food production, since it uses significantly less mineral fertilizer. Soils remain fertile for many years with the \"dark earth\": Nutrients are retained for much longer in the soil and not simply washed away, forming humus for a significantly longer time. What is more, the new Terra Preta needs considerably less water than other soils. Potential application areas include not only farmland, but also professional landscaping and forestry, not to mention backyard gardens, where part-time gardeners will soon be able to plant their tomatoes in a Terra Preta substrate. By improving the soil, energy crops will achieve higher yields per unit, thus significantly increasing efficiency. The \"gold of the earth\" also has an important effect on climate: By changing and reducing microbiological decay processes, the soil requires less organic biomass and thus also releases significantly less carbon dioxide. At the same time, the widespread application of Terra Preta technology will remove large quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere, binding it in the soil as stable humus. Scientists have calculated that up to 250 tons of carbon can be bound in one hectare of farmland treated with Terra Preta.


About the juwi Group

The juwi Group (http://www.juwi.de) was founded in 1996 by Matthias Willenbacher and Fred Jung. The CEOs together transformed the company from a two-person operation focusing on wind farm project development into an internationally active group with around 700 employees and an annual turnover of about 600 million euros. In addition to wind, solar and bioenergy, juwi also specializes in water power as well as geothermal energy. The Group has subsidiaries in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Greece, the United States and Costa Rica. Willenbacher and Jung also share a common goal: an energy supply from purely regenerative sources - 100% dedication to 100% renewable energies. The \"100% renewables\" campaign embodies this goal. One of the outstanding projects of juwi is the Morbach Energy Landscape (http://www.energielandschaft.de). In the town of Morbach, in the Hunsrück region, juwi has turned 150 hectares of land from a former US military munitions depot into a unique energy landscape: with 14 wind turbines, solar parks, a biogas plant and a wood pellet factory. In 2007, juwi was awarded the German Solar Prize for the Morbach Energy Landscape.


About areal GmbH

areal GmbH was founded in 1990 by its present-day CEO, Joachim Böttcher. areal’s work includes the development, planning and execution of sustainable and natural processes for wastewater treatment. At home and abroad, the company has extensive experience in the design and construction of natural sewage and water treatment plants. areal GmbH is the world leader in the development of Terra Preta technology.


Woerrstadt, November 26, 2009

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