50,000 hectares to be planted with cassava
By Amy R. Remo
Inquirer
12/11/2007
An energy company based in Spain plans to invest as much as $250 million to develop 50,000 hectares of land into cassava plantations whose output will be used as feedstock for biofuel facilities in the Philippines, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.
Abengoa Bioenergy signed a memorandum of understanding with Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp. during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s two-day state visit to Spain last week, Yap said.
Abengoa is the largest ethanol producer in Europe, where it operates several bioethanol facilities. It also has plants in Brazil and the United States, where it ranks fifth in the industry.
The memorandum of understanding, which is valid for a year, was signed by Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and Abengoa chairman Javier Salgado Leirado last week.
Under its provisions, Abengoa will help the Department of Agriculture identify varieties of cassava for cultivation trials.
Puyat said that Abengoa would provide design engineering and supply the machinery required to develop cassava plantations, as well as study the possibility of setting up bioethanol factories in the Philippines.
Feedstock production from the distillery is projected at 1.0-1.2 million tons to generate about 150 to 200 million liters of bioethanol a year, he said.
Through a Abengoa-PADCC working committee, the PADCC will help Abengoa in conducting capability-enhancement training for farmers, Puyat added.
He said Abengoa would lend its technical expertise in the agricultural production side to develop high yielding varieties and increase feedstock productivity.
Yap said Abengoa and PADCC could enter into partnerships focusing on energy crops development and cost-competitive biomass technology.
Earlier, a Bilbao-based biodiesel leader in Europe -- Bionor Transformacion S.A. -- revealed plans to invest $200 million in the Philippines to develop at least 100,000 hectares of land into jatropha plantations to be used as feedstock for biofuel plants.
By Amy R. Remo
Inquirer
12/11/2007
An energy company based in Spain plans to invest as much as $250 million to develop 50,000 hectares of land into cassava plantations whose output will be used as feedstock for biofuel facilities in the Philippines, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.
Abengoa Bioenergy signed a memorandum of understanding with Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp. during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s two-day state visit to Spain last week, Yap said.
Abengoa is the largest ethanol producer in Europe, where it operates several bioethanol facilities. It also has plants in Brazil and the United States, where it ranks fifth in the industry.
The memorandum of understanding, which is valid for a year, was signed by Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and Abengoa chairman Javier Salgado Leirado last week.
Under its provisions, Abengoa will help the Department of Agriculture identify varieties of cassava for cultivation trials.
Puyat said that Abengoa would provide design engineering and supply the machinery required to develop cassava plantations, as well as study the possibility of setting up bioethanol factories in the Philippines.
Feedstock production from the distillery is projected at 1.0-1.2 million tons to generate about 150 to 200 million liters of bioethanol a year, he said.
Through a Abengoa-PADCC working committee, the PADCC will help Abengoa in conducting capability-enhancement training for farmers, Puyat added.
He said Abengoa would lend its technical expertise in the agricultural production side to develop high yielding varieties and increase feedstock productivity.
Yap said Abengoa and PADCC could enter into partnerships focusing on energy crops development and cost-competitive biomass technology.
Earlier, a Bilbao-based biodiesel leader in Europe -- Bionor Transformacion S.A. -- revealed plans to invest $200 million in the Philippines to develop at least 100,000 hectares of land into jatropha plantations to be used as feedstock for biofuel plants.
No comments:
Post a Comment