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Biofuel maker eyes more jatropha fields in the Philippines
Added 260 days ago - A biofuel producer has shifted to high gear, seeking more areas for the biodiesel source jatropha curcas, locally called tuba-tuba.
Marc V. Gulle, manager of Eco Global Bio-Oils, Inc., said the company hopes to lure members of the B’laan and Tagakaolo tribes to plant jatropha in their 74,804-hectare freshly titled ancestral lands in the town of Malungon. "[We are] proud to note that the company now has a plantation size of 11,349 hectares of jatropha and is bent on surpassing [the] target," he said.
The company’s initial target was 100,000 hectares but it plans to expand it to 200,000 hectares in the next two years, with this city as part of the expansion area.
Mr. Gulle said the firm’s long-range plan is to build a biodiesel plant, and intensifying the expansion of jatropha plantations will complement this.
He also said the firm has acquired 6.8 hectares for its jatropha oil extraction plant site in Barangay Bawing in this city.
Other expansion sites in Sarangani being eyed for jatropha production by Eco Global are the towns of Alabel for 10,000 hectares of plantations, and Maasim and Kiamba for a combined 16,000 hectares.
The company also hopes to develop at least 1,100 hectares of ancestral lands in this city as production areas for jatropha.
In a recent visit to South Korea, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo secured investment commitments of as much as $175 million from Eco Solution Co. Ltd. Eco Global is an affiliate of Eco Solution.
Biofuel projects are being spurred by incentives as a result of the passage of Republic Act No. 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. — Romer S. Sarmiento
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