In the annual series by finews.asia, selected fund managers report from their hometown in the summer. This time, the journey goes to Dallas.
By Christian Rom, Portfolio Manager of the DNB Fund Renewable Energy
Irving is a city in Dallas County in the state of Texas, USA. About 250,000 people live here. Part of the city hosts the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Those who are a bit older might still remember the series «Dallas» from the 1980s, one of the first soap operas worldwide and one of the most-watched series in the USA. It’s about power, money, and oil.
Irving is also the headquarters of ExxonMobil. In fact, many people probably associate Texas with oil. However, for years, we have been focusing on another company, Darling Ingredients. The company is the world's largest producer of sustainable natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients. It is considered a global pioneer in waste disposal and recycling and was founded in 1882 under the name Ira C. Darling & Company in the United States.
Christian Rom, DNB (Image: zvg)
In the summer, it’s hot in Irving, with temperatures reaching 36 degrees Celsius, and it rarely cools down below 24 degrees even at night. The many American air conditioners come in handy. It’s good that Texas is the green powerhouse of the USA. In fact, Texas generates three times as much wind and solar energy as liberal California. Wind turbines have been sprouting in Texas like mushrooms for over 20 years.
Wind Power is the New Oil in Texas
The wide, flat plains and large desert areas are perfect for wind and solar farms. Just like the immense space available: The second-largest American state stretches almost 1,300 kilometers from east to west and from north to south at its widest points. In area, Texas is almost twice as large as Germany, but with only 29 million people, it has only a third of the population – and the Republican leadership, with its aversion to bureaucracy, rarely dictates what people can and cannot do.
Wind power is the new oil in Texas. The vast state now has more than 150 wind farms with a total of more than 15,000 turbines. That’s about half as many as in all of Germany, in just one US state. These capacities are striking when compared to the rest of the US: about a quarter of all American wind power comes from the Texas plains.
Dallas, Texas (Image: Jacoby Clarke, Pexels)
Now back to Darling, a company we also have in our portfolio because it has developed an interesting innovative solution. Darling Ingredients collects and processes used fats and oils. These waste products are cleaned and turned into value-added products used in various industries, including animal feed, pet food, human health, and renewable diesel (through Darling Ingredients' joint venture with Valero, Diamond Green Diesel).
Animal By-products
The company sees itself as the «original recycler,» as its business model is to convert products that would otherwise «remain in the field» into sustainable ingredients. Darling has grown over time, primarily through acquisitions, and now operates on a large scale – processing 15 percent of the world's animal by-products and collecting about 50 percent of the used cooking oil in the USA. All in all, Darling Ingredients is the only vertically integrated producer of renewable diesel in the world.
National Scouting Museum, Irving (Image: NSM)
Of course, there are also sights to see in Irving. The National Scouting Museum, the Las Colinas Equestrian Center & Polo Club, a riding facility with over 100 stalls, and the Irving Arts Center with two galleries and three theaters and concert halls. If you’re lucky, you can hear the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra or the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving here.
