Japanese oil firm estimates cassava ethanol production costs to be around US$33/BOE
The Philippine province of Bohol (picture, click to enlarge) is bullish about Japanese and Chinese investors who are indicating their interest to invest heavily in the country's nascent biofuels sector. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has invited foreign investors to enter the sector, for which new legislation has recently been created.
Gov. Erico Aumentado said that the call of the President was a result of various factors including favorable business climate, peace and order in the province, and special tax incentives for biofuel companies.
Japanese firm Cosmo Oil Company Ltd. (COCL), a Fortune-500 company which has started investing in the production and utilization of alternative but renewable and environment-friendly fuels, expressed keen interest in establishing in a cassava based ethanol plant in Bohol. A delegation of six company executives recently visited the province and held a briefing on their plans based on a feasibility study it made. It includes a very optimistic calculus on the production costs of cassava-based ethanol:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: cassava :: Philippines ::
The company's spokesperson added that, from a logistical and infrastructural point of view, Bohol is a strategic site compared to other places they have been to, including Davao City and Cagayan de Oro City, because the province is located centrally in the country, both accessible from the south and from the neighboring islands of the western and eastern provinces where they may source raw materials for future projects.
COCL is also looking into marketing liquid biofuels such as biodiesel and ethanol based on oil palm, coconut, waste vegetables and sugarcane.
The Philippines recently introduced a landmark Biofuel Act, which contains a mandate for 10% ethanol in the country's overall gasoline consumption, to be reached by 2010 (earlier post).
The country has meanwhile attracted large investors, mainly from Japan and China, with funds poured into the sector worth 240.1 billion pesos (€3.8/US$4.9 billion) so far - investments that will be made over the next five to seven years (earlier post).
Crops of interest in the island state are coconut and oil palm for the production of biodiesel, and sugarcane, cassava and especially sweet sorghum for ethanol. A recently developed sorghum variety with a high sugar content, looks very promising. During field trials, it yielded more ethanol per hectare than sugarcane, which is widely considered to be the most viable ethanol crop (earlier post).
Gov. Erico Aumentado said that the call of the President was a result of various factors including favorable business climate, peace and order in the province, and special tax incentives for biofuel companies.
Japanese firm Cosmo Oil Company Ltd. (COCL), a Fortune-500 company which has started investing in the production and utilization of alternative but renewable and environment-friendly fuels, expressed keen interest in establishing in a cassava based ethanol plant in Bohol. A delegation of six company executives recently visited the province and held a briefing on their plans based on a feasibility study it made. It includes a very optimistic calculus on the production costs of cassava-based ethanol:
- according to the feasibility study, the company needs 555,000 tons per year of cassava to feed its 185,000 ton per year ethanol plant
- this will require 18,000 hectares of cassava plantation based on an average yield of 30 tons/year/ha
- farm to refinery production costs for the bioethanol are estimated based on a price of 1,500 pesos per ton for cassava, which, after bioconversion, results in a price of around US$33 per barrel of oil equivalent at the refinery gate
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: cassava :: Philippines ::
The company's spokesperson added that, from a logistical and infrastructural point of view, Bohol is a strategic site compared to other places they have been to, including Davao City and Cagayan de Oro City, because the province is located centrally in the country, both accessible from the south and from the neighboring islands of the western and eastern provinces where they may source raw materials for future projects.
COCL is also looking into marketing liquid biofuels such as biodiesel and ethanol based on oil palm, coconut, waste vegetables and sugarcane.
The Philippines recently introduced a landmark Biofuel Act, which contains a mandate for 10% ethanol in the country's overall gasoline consumption, to be reached by 2010 (earlier post).
The country has meanwhile attracted large investors, mainly from Japan and China, with funds poured into the sector worth 240.1 billion pesos (€3.8/US$4.9 billion) so far - investments that will be made over the next five to seven years (earlier post).
Crops of interest in the island state are coconut and oil palm for the production of biodiesel, and sugarcane, cassava and especially sweet sorghum for ethanol. A recently developed sorghum variety with a high sugar content, looks very promising. During field trials, it yielded more ethanol per hectare than sugarcane, which is widely considered to be the most viable ethanol crop (earlier post).
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