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Economic Feasibility of Sustainable Non-Food Biodiesel: Castor
Economic Feasibility of Sustainable Non-Food Biodiesel: Castor Economic Feasibility of Sustainable Non-Food Feedstock Based Biodiesel Production: Castor Bean Biodiesel Business Academy Global Knowledge Platform for a Sustainable Future CENTER FOR JATROPHA PROMOTION & BIODIESEL Building a sustainable biodiesel industry TELE: +91 141 2335839 FAX: + 91 141 2335968 CELL: +91 9413343550 E-Mail jatrophacurcas@gmail.com URL http://www.jatrophabiodiesel.org In a previous articles titled Economic Feasibility of Sustainable Non-Food Feedstock Based Biodiesel Production: Part 1 Part 2 and Part 3, we covered how Pongamia Pinnata, Moringa and Simarouba glauca are going to be sustainable low cost feed stock to build a profitable biodiesel industry. In this article we are going to discuss the potentiality of Castor Bean: cut carbon and fuel the future Biofuels are becoming big policy and big business as countries around the world look to decrease petroleum dependence, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector, and support agricultural interests. After more than a decade of healthy growth for conventional biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel, the next wave of advanced biofuels is currently on the cusp of commercial scale-up. Biofuels have already helped the world achieve a tangible reduction in emissions as global CO2 emissions are forecast to rise by as much as 50 per cent over the next 25 years. Nevertheless, the world has come a long way, especially since the original Kyoto Protocol . Numerous countries have adopted mandated bio-content requirements for traffic fuels, for example. Considerable technological progress has also been made, in terms of new refining processes, new types of feedstock, and completely new energy sources. While some of these developments will be important for society two or three decades from now, the ones that call for the most attention are those that can help us start making a difference today. Making more of a difference today Biofuels offer the most direct route available today for reducing traffic-related emissions of CO2 and are already widely available. The future success of the biofuels industry will depend on a number of factors and learning experiences. No easy challenge, it must be admitted, but a necessary one all the same. The number one priority is that the raw materials required to produce biofuels are likely to remain more expensive than crude oil for the foreseeable future. Without this, industry will be unable – and ultimately unwilling – to make the type of investments needed, not only in capacity based on the best existing technology but also in new conversion technologies that can make use of a broad range of globally available feedstock..The degree to which the promotion of biofuels enters into competition with food production, raising questions of food security, depends on a variety of factors: Choice of feedstock; Natural resources involved (especially land and water); Relative efficiencies (yields, costs, GHG emissions) of different feedstocks; Processing technologies adopted. Concern over competition between biofuels and food production has been particularly acute given the overwhelming use of food and feed crops for both ethanol and biodiesel. Several measures are suggested for mitigating this problem. Among them, recommending a low cost input technology for cultivating hardy perennial crops that can grow well even with erratic and low rainfall, still giving assured returns is of great significance. In this context, cultivation of Castor Bean that can grow well under a wide range of hostile ecological conditions, offers a great hope. Castor bean, an annual oil crop, produces a seed that contains approximately 50 percent oil. The oil is of a high quality and there is a growing market for it among biodiesel manufacturers. The oil also has wide ranging applications in the industrial bio-chemical sector. As part of our quest to develop and market sustainable biofuels that have a minimal impact on food supplies and can help us make tangible reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, we’re investing in a number of promising research projects. Research and development programme at Center for Jatropha Promotion & Biodiesel (CJP) focuses on the 17 primary non-food sources of biodiesels —out of which seven namely Jatropha, Jojoba, Castor, Pongamia, Moringa, Castor Bean and Microalgae have been tried, tested that adequate amount of each type of feedstock that could be sustainably produced and utilized across the globe without compromising the fertility of agricultural soils, displacing land needed to grow our food, or threatening the health of our farms and forests. Future biodiesel production should be sourced from crop feedstock’s such as moringa, pongamia and castor that can be grown on marginal land. This will ensure establishment of a sustainable biodiesel industry that will not compete for land and other resources with the rest of the agricultural sector that produces food and fibre. In addition, sustainable biodiesel production will rely significantly on the capacity to run economically viable and profitable operations that will be resilient to fluctuations in fossil and non-fossil fuel prices, and government policies in relation to renewable energy and carbon emission reductions.Biofuel policies have been successful in developing an economic sector and a market. There are now more than 60 countries that have developed biofuel policies. Given the increasing price of fossil fuels and more efficient production, biofuels, or at least some of them, will be competitive even without public support. Increasingly it will be the market rather than policies that will drive the development of the sector. About the Plant Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is cultivated around the world because of the commercial importance of its oil. India is the world’s largest producer of castor seed and meets most of the global demand for castor oil. India produces around 1 million tonnes of castor seed annually, and accounting for more than 60% of the entire global production. Because of its unlimited industrial applications, castor oil enjoys tremendous demand world‐wide. The current consumption of Castor Oil and its derivatives in the domestic market is estimated at about 300,000 tonnes. India is also the biggest exporter of castor oil and its derivatives at 87% share of the international trade in this commodity. Castor is an important non‐edible oilseed crop and is grown especially in arid and semi arid region. It is originated in the tropical belt of both India and Africa. It is cultivated in different countries on commercial scale, of which India, China and Brazil is major castor growing countries accounting for 90 per cent of the worldʹs production. Historically, Brazil, China and India have been the key producing countries meeting global requirements. However, in early 90’s, Brazilian farmers moved away to more lucrative cash crops, and surge in domestic demand in China made them net importers, leaving India to meet the global demand. Cultivation Pattern Castor crop needs a tropical type of climate to develop. That’s why the castor is largely found in the countries lying in the tropical belt of the world. BENEFITS Castor Oil’s application range is very wide ‐ the uses range from cosmetics, paints, synthetic resins & varnishes, to the areas of national security involving engineering plastics, jet engine lubricants and polymers for electronics and telecommunications. Castor is a versatile, renewable resource having vast and varied applications such as lubricating grease, surfactants, surface coatings, telecom, engineering plastics, pharma, rubber chemicals, nylons, etc. Castor oil and its derivatives find major application in soaps, lubricants, grease, hydraulic brake fluids and polymers and perfumery products. The primary use of castor oil is as a basic ingredient in the production of nylon 11, jet engine lubricants, nylon 6‐10, heavy duty automotive greases, coatings and inks, surfactants, polyurethanes, soaps, polishes, flypapers, lubricants, and many other chemical derivatives and medicinal, pharmaceutical and cosmetic derivatives. The seeds and residual cake are highly poisonous and unless processed to remove the poisons cannot be fed to livestock. In some countries the cake is used as a fertilizer. Poisons contained in the cake include ricin. Castor is a plant that is commercially very important to the world. Castor seed oil cake is very useful manure to crops. Castor Cake is an excellent fertilizer because of high content of N (6.4%), Phosphoric Acid (2.55%) and Potash (1%) and moisture retention.which is suitable for cultivation of Paddy, Wheat, Maize and Sugarcane. Castor Oil Castor oil is obtained by pressing the seeds, followed by solvent extraction of the pressed cake. Castor Oil is one of the world’s most useful and economically important natural plant oils. India supplies 70% of the world’s requirements of castor oil. This oil is unique among vegetable oils and uniqueness is derives from the presence of a hydroxyl fatty acid known as ricinoleic acid (12‐ hydroxyl‐cis‐9‐octadecenoic acid) which constitute around 90% of the total fatty acids of the oil. Castor Oil is also distinguished from other vegetable oils by its high specific gravity, thickness and hydroxyl value.Castor oil is used either in its crude form, or in the refined hydrogenated form. Typically, 65% of it is processed. About 28% is refined, 12% is hydrogenated, 20% is dehydrated, and the balance 5% is processed to manufacture other derivatives. The major derivatives of Castor oil used in the industry– hydrogenated castor oil (HCO), Dehydrated castor oil (DCO), Sebacic acid etc. Carbon Credit The castor Plants act as sinks for carbon dioxide as Castor bean plants capture around 10 tons of carbon dioxide for every hectare (2.471 acres) planted and, hence, the Ricinus communis plantation will reduce the amount of this greenhouse gas (GHG) in the atmosphere. Given the widespread presence and ease of cultivation of the Castor Bean oil plant it could be cultivated in conjunction with subsistence agriculture programs as a potential oilseed feedstock for biodiesel. Food v Fuel & Castor Bean As per a recent report of World Bank, the rising crude oil prices are the biggest contributor to rising food prices. In the production and distribution of food, oil is used in everything from fertilizer production to powering farm equipment and transporting the food to consumers. In such context the World Bank report suggests that to stem rising food prices, the widespread famine inflicted on the world’s poorest countries, and the economic hardship exacted on the poor and working-class within the developed world, we must control oil prices. Further, the study carried out at CJP reveals that Castor Bean seed oil has good nutritional profile and other physico-chemical properties which got improved after the process of refining; therefore it can be used as a potential oil seed resource for edible purpose and bio-fuel production. Castor Bean as a source of biodiesel The Ricinus communis biodiesel meets all the three criteria any environmentally sustainable fuel must meet. These are social, technical and commercial. The seeds from the Ricinus communis Plant contain in excess of 45% oil. Castor seed oil is being used widely for various purposes. It is used as a lubricant in high-speed engines and aero planes, in the manufacture of soaps, transparent paper, printing-inks, varnishes, linoleum and plasticizers. It is also used for medicinal and lighting purposes. The cake is used as manure and plant stalks as fuel or as thatching material or for preparing paper-pulp. In the silk-producing areas, leaves are fed to the silkworms. Now the main use of the oil will be as bio fuel and for the production of biodiesel. This oil has an ash content of about 0.02% and the percentage of sulfur is less than 0.04%.The higher the cetane number (CN), the better the fuel will be when used as a diesel. The CN of the majority of biodiesel fuels is actually higher than petrol or diesel, and the cetane number of castor oil biodiesel is in a good range for diesel engines. The castor biodiesel has very interesting properties (very low cloud and pour points) that show that this fuel is very suitable for using in extreme winter temperatures. The project has many other positive economic, social and environmental impacts: There are income generation opportunities that result from the project like the provision of goods and services to the cultivation and its workers Yield Estimates: Castor Bean Yield is a function of light, water, nutrients and the age of the Plant. Good planning, quality planting material, standardized agronomy practices and good crop management may handsomely increase the yields. Ricinus communis will yield at Maturity as high as +1000 kl oil with proper nutrition, and irrigation. This is truly an exceptional amount of oil from an agricultural crop. ILUC discussion and Castor Bean The ILUC effect has become a controversial issue in international debates but also in some national debates. Many studies have shown there is enough land available to produce more food, more feed and more biofuels. According to FAO using the GAEZ classification of land types, there is a gross balance of 3.2 billion ha of prime and good land not used for growing crops, leaving a net balance of 1.4 billion ha, after subtracting built-up areas, forests and protected areas. Though the discussion of indirect land use change (ILUC) caused by biofuels is not scientifically supported, the Castor Bean does not cause land use change. It is an annual crop and grown in arid and semi arid regions. Biodiesel can make a large contribution to the world’s future energy requirements; this is a resource we cannot ignore. The challenge is to harness it on an environmentally and economically sustainable manner and without compromising food security. Economics: Cost & benefit ratio Castor farming is being developed by CJP in conjunction with Pongamia Pinnata and Indian mustard, and has shown to be a heartier and higher yielding variety as companion crop. Being a companion crop, castor bean can give the grower the ability to double crop and earn more — it’s like adding a second shift to the factory of agriculture. The double oil crop adds to the farmer’s income, creates jobs in the crushing operations, and the oil derived from the seed will help decrease foreign oil dependency. It’s a very attractive proposition for all stakeholders involved. Vast scope exists for exploitation of castor as a bioenergy crop although there are still some technological challenges to overcome. A combination of conventional breeding methods with biotechnological techniques provides newer routes for designing oils for biofuel purpose.Non-food castor will produce enough oil in the double-crop environment with Pongamia, simarouba or Indian mustard. The Castor Bean Biodiesel can be produced less than US$ 39 per barrel, detailed economics are here . Estimates of yields, prices and cost vary greatly, making it difficult for potential growers to make informed investment decisions about growing the crop. We identify the key elements in growing castor and examine their effects. We also provide accurate information about the crop for potential castor investors and growers after performing feasibility studies. BBA’S Next 6th 5 day Global Jatropha Hi-tech Integrated Nonfood Biodiesel Farming & Technology Training Programme in India from September 23-27, 2013 is all set to introduce you to the real world of nonfood biodiesel crops and business. Attendees shall also have the opportunity to explore castor crop science, agronomy and its cultivation technology etc. as these have also been included in the course. To find out more about JATROPHAWORLD 2013 please visit w ww.jatrophabiodiesel.org . As seats are limited in 6th Global Jatropha World 2013, register now. One can contact Coordinator Programme on M +91 9829423333 or mail to sign up for the event early and secure your place without delay. The next issue Part 5 shall be focused on “ Jojoba: Diesel from Desert Shrub” Director (Training) Biodiesel Business Academy T +91 141 2335839 F: +91 141 2335968 M- +91 982943333, www.jatrophabiodiesel.org Continue reading
Emerging Market Stars Have Lost Their Lustre
A man counts Indian rupee banknotes near the Bombay Stock Exchange building in Mumbai. Photograph: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg Tue, Aug 27, 2013 India, 1991. Thailand and east Asia, 1997. Russia, 1998. Lehman Brothers, 2008. The euro zone from 2009. And now, perhaps, India and the emerging markets all over again. Each financial crisis manifests itself in new places and different forms. Back in 2010, José Sócrates, who was struggling as Portugal’s prime minister to avert a humiliating international bailout, ruefully explained how he had just learned to use his mobile phone for instant updates on European sovereign bond yields. It did him no good. Six months later he was gone and Portugal was asking for help from the IMF. This year it is the turn of Indian ministers and central bankers to stare glumly at the screens of their BlackBerrys and iPhones, although their preoccupation is the rate of the rupee against the dollar. India’s currency plumbed successive record lows last week as investors decided en masse to withdraw money from emerging markets, especially those such as India with high current account deficits that are dependent on those same investors for funds. The trigger for market mayhem in Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta was the realisation that the Federal Reserve might soon begin to “taper” its generous, post- Lehman quantitative easing programme of bond-buying. That implies a stronger US economy, rising US interest rates and a preference among investors for US assets over high-risk emerging markets in Asia or Latin America. The fuse igniting each financial explosion is inevitably different from the one before. Yet the underlying problems over the years are strikingly similar. So are the principal phases – including the hubris and the nemesis – of the economic tragedies they endure. No one who has examined the history of the nations that fell victim to previous financial crises should be shocked by the way the markets are treating India or Brazil today. First comes complacency, usually generated by years of high economic growth and the feeling that the country’s success must be the result of the values, foresight and deft policymaking of those in power and the increasing sophistication of those they govern. Sceptics who warn of impending doom are dismissed as “Cassandras” by those who forget not only their own fragilities but also the point about the Trojan prophetess: it was not that she was wrong about the future, it was that she was fated never to be believed. So high was confidence only a few months ago in India – as in Thailand in the early 1990s – that economists predicted that the local currency would rise, not fall, against the dollar. Indian gross domestic product growth had topped 10 per cent a year in 2010, and the overcrowded nation of 1.3 billion was deemed to be profiting from a “demographic dividend” of tens of millions of young men and women entering the workforce. India was destined to overtake China in terms of GDP growth as well as population size. ‘Sense of entitlement’ Deeply ingrained in the Indian system, says Pratap Bhanu Mehta , head of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, was an “intellectual belief that there was some kind of force of nature propelling us to 9 per cent growth . . . almost of a sense of entitlement that led us to misread history”. In the same way, the heady success of the southeast Asian tigers in the early 1990s had been attributed to “Asian values”, a delusional and now discredited school of thought that exempted its believers from the normal rules of economics and history because of their superior work ethic and collective spirit of endeavour. The truth is more banal: the real cause of the expansion that precedes the typical financial crisis is usually a flood of cheap (or relatively cheap) credit, often from abroad. Thai companies in the 1990s borrowed dollars short-term at low rates of interest and made long-term investments in property, industry and infrastructure at home, where they expected high returns in Thai baht, a currency that had long held steady against the dollar. The same happened in Spain and Portugal in the 2000s, although the low-interest loans that fuelled the property boom were mostly north-to-south transfers within the euro zone and in the same currency as the expected returns. Indeed, the euro was labelled “a deadly painkiller” because the use of a common currency hid the financial imbalances emerging in southern Europe and Ireland. The downfall Phase Two of a financial crisis is the downfall itself. It is the moment when everyone realises the emperor is naked; to put it another way, the tide of easy money recedes for some reason, and suddenly the current account deficits, the poverty of investment returns and the fragility of indebted corporations and the banks that lent to them are exposed to view. That is what has started happening over the past two weeks as investors take stock of the Fed’s likely “tapering”. And the fate of India – the rupee is one of the “Fragile Five”, according to Morgan Stanley, alongside the currencies of Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey – is particularly instructive. It is not that all of India’s economic fundamentals are bad. As Palaniappan Chidambaram, finance minister, said on Thursday, the public debt burden has actually fallen in the past six years to less than 70 per cent of GDP – but then the same was true of Spain as it entered its own grave economic crisis in 2009. Like Spain, India has tolerated slack lending practices by quasi-official banks to finance the huge property and infrastructure projects of tycoons who may struggle to repay their loans. Ominously, bad and restructured loans have more than doubled at Indian state banks in the past four years, reaching an alarming 11.7 per cent of total assets. According to Credit Suisse, combined gross debts at 10 of India’s biggest industrial conglomerates have risen 15 per cent in the past year to reach $102 billion. For those who take the long view, a more serious failing is that India has manifestly missed the kind of economic opportunity that comes along only once in an age. Instead of welcoming investment with open arms and replacing China as the principal source of the world’s manufactured goods, India under Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party, long suspicious of business, has opted to enlarge the world’s biggest welfare state, subsidising everything from rice, fertiliser and gas to housing and rural employment. Phase Three is when ministers and central bank governors survey the wreckage of a once-vibrant economy and try to work out how to rebuild it. India’s underlying economy is nevertheless sound and its banks are safe, say Mr Chidambaram and other senior officials. There is therefore no need to contemplate asking for help from the IMF or anyone else. Mr Sócrates said much the same in Lisbon three years ago. “Portugal doesn’t need any help,” he said. “We only need the understanding of the markets.” The markets did not understand, and Portugal did need the help. Continue reading
From Factory Floor To The Decks Of Megayachts
http://www.heraldtri…xW=445&border=0 Jon Barker guides a 40-foot teak deck panel as it comes out of a sander at Teakdecking Systems Inc. in Sarasota. STAFF PHOTO / MIKE LANG By Michael Pollick Published: Sunday, August 25, 2013 SOUTH MANATEE COUNTY – Teakdecking Systems Inc. never knows what kinds of orders will come in to its 100,000-square-foot factory, so it keeps about three years worth of inventory around at all times. That’s no easy — or inexpensive — task, though. At wholesale prices of between $25 and $30 per foot, teak is one of the world’s more expensive woods. But for the 30-year-old company, the cost is worth it to have an ample supply of the wood that is prized by boat builders and buyers alike for its moisture-resistant properties and its aesthetic qualities. Having the supply of wood on hand is a departure from standard industry practice — even though it can take six months or more to have teak shipped from forests in Myanmar — but Teakdecking is accustomed to bucking the trends. Several years ago, the company pioneered the concept of building teak yacht decks in a factory. When finished, the deck is shipped to a yacht, uncrated and fastened in place with epoxy, rather than screws. The system had its skeptics, at first, but has gradually become the preferred method for shipyards and boat builders worldwide — from Sarasota’s Chris-Craft to mega-yacht builders such as England’s Pendennis Shipyard. “We kind of revolutionized the industry,” said Alan Brosilow, Teakdecking’s manager of yacht services and one of the company’s earliest U.S. employees. “This invention was not heard of, where you could make a set of patterns and make a teak deck from it and then deliver it,” he said. “People would just not believe you could do this.” The old way Before Teakdecking introduced its new method, if you wanted a teak deck for a yacht, the job required a specialized carpenter who could allow for hatches, hardware, a cabin and a cockpit. Boards would be molded to fit the curves of the deck, then screwed down to the hull. It could take two to three months to deck a large yacht, keeping it in port. But as fiberglass and epoxy started coming into widespread use in the 1970s, a group in Sweden pioneered building teak decks — curves and all — in a factory, and then shipping them to where the boat was being made or refitted, to be installed. The advantages were many: There were no wooden plugs hiding screw heads to fall out, no screws to come loose or metal that could create leaks in the cabin. Instead, buyers got perfectly grained teak decks custom-designed to fit snugly. Today, working from exact digital blueprints made on site, Teakdecking builds decks upside down on its factory floor, using a proprietary raised floor system made up of slots and wedges that helps shape the wood. When finished, the upside-down deck is frozen into its correct position by using a sheet of fiberglass and specially concocted epoxy, or glue. Once cured, the deck panels are sanded, trimmed and fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle. Then they are separated again and packed into custom wooden crates up to 40 feet long for shipping. ‘Sourcing’ the raw material Paul Crist is a big guy who favors blue company T-shirts. He spends his days cutting thick slabs of teak into smaller pieces. But his real job, he says, is “wood sourcing.” He and another worker, Dan Paver, work as a team. Sourcing involves traveling to Myanmar, which has abundant teak forests, to visit mills to scope out which wood to buy and which to reject. “Our standards are real, real high,” Crist said. “Stuff I reject, other boat builders would gladly accept.” Teak tree harvesting kicked into high gear during the British colonial period, which in Burma — now known as Myanmar — lasted from 1824 to 1948. The wood’s resistance to moisture and bugs made it a perfect material for ship-building. Teak can be left unvarnished and exposed to sun and salt water without degrading into splints. It also weathers to a silver-gray color and provides a natural non-slip surface. British demand for ships made of the durable wood consumed most of the teak in India, Thailand and Cambodia. The forests in which teak grows in Myanmar are gradually disappearing, as well. “Natural teak has now almost become an endangered species,” according to a 2012 report by the Ministry of Forestry of Myanmar, which has the last large stands of teak forest in the world. The ministry contends it is keeping the supply sustainable through its current system of forest management. Rules and regulations determine how many trees can be felled, and where. “These are managed forests, very managed forests,” Brosilow said. Brosilow predicted the company will still be buying and using teak 15 to 20 years from now. The Sarasota connection Teakdecking owes its methods to formulations from Sweden, but the company’s process has been used in the U.S. since 1983, ever since Lars Lewander established a factory in Sarasota. The company chose Southwest Florida because it provided access to production boat builders like Wellcraft, which has since moved away, as well as big yacht builders in Tampa and along the east coast. Gulfstar Yachts was an early customer, recalls Joe Zammataro, who was vice president of sales there and is now a yacht broker at Denison Yacht Sales in St. Petersburg. “To use their teak decks was like a fraction of the expense of making our own, and I think the overall dependability was better,” Zammataro said. Smaller pleasure craft rarely come with teak these days, he said. “But when you get into boats in the 60-, 70-, 80-foot range and larger, the teak decks are always a more elegant solution.” Lewander eventually bought out his original partners and became Teakdecking’s owner as well as its president. The company now does $15 million to $20 million a year in sales and has 129 employees. Four years ago, Lewander started an employee stock ownership plan. So now the employees are becoming its owners, with the proceeds from a profit-sharing plan being poured into an employee stock ownership trust. That’s on top of a 401(k) retirement savings plan. “You can come in here and build a career,” said Michael Havey, the company’s director of quality assurance and employee development. Half custom jobs now Teakdecking now derives half of its business from custom jobs and half from production work, with Chris-Craft being a notable and nearby customer. The Sarasota-based builder of luxury run-abouts and yachts has been buying pre-fabricated teak from Teakdecking since 2001. “It has been a marriage that we have had with Teakdecking under the current ownership, a little over 12 years,” said Steve Callahan, vice president of materials at Chris-Craft. “Yes, every single one has teak on it,” he said. Brosilow spends his time coordinating teak projects with a who’s who of shipyards and mega-yacht builders: Lürssen Werft of Germany; Trinity Yachts of Gulfport, Miss.; Christensen Shipyards of Washington; and many others. Teakdecking doesn’t shy away from large jobs, either. It’s built the decks for some of the largest yachts ever constructed, including “Rising Sun,” a 454-foot motor yacht built in 2004 for Oracle founder Larry Ellison and now owned by media mogul David Geffen. The $200 million yacht, with passenger accommodations on five stories, has 8,000 square feet of living space. The planning that goes into big deck projects is just as intricate as the construction method itself. Teakdecking digital designer Mike Baker displayed that complexity recently when he worked on a deck that requires 2,226 square feet of teak for a 120-foot aluminum sailing yacht. The boat was made by Pendennis 15 years ago and is now being refitted at the same British shipyard. Baker and Brosilow have been going back and forth with those overseeing the work in England, and now, Brosilow thinks Teakdecking has finally figured out the exact width of the planks that will be needed — averting skinny pieces of wood around hatches or the need for other significant hardware. That one deck will bring in $350,000, but require the company to go through a lot of its inventory in the process — meaning Crist and Paver will likely be on airplanes soon, heading to Myanmar for continued “sourcing.” Continue reading
