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TRANS-ASIA Oil and Energy Development Corp. (TA Oil)
is conducting studies on the jathropa plant, a known biodiesel
source, as the company plans to venture into alternative fuels.
Francisco L. Viray, TA Oil
president, said the company has already established a jathropa
breeding area in a 4-hectare farm in Batangas Union Industrial Park,
to test whether the plant can grow and prosper well enough to be
used for the production of biodiesel.
He said the recent passage of the
Biofuels Law, which initially mandates the blending of 1-percent
biodiesel with all diesel fuel, has encouraged TA Oil to test the
viability of jathropa as a biodiesel.
The company has earmarked about
P600,000 for the pilot breeding farm, but is expected to increase
this amount if the plant is proven suitable for biodiesel
production.
TA Oil, a unit of the Phinma
group, has yet to decide whether it would go into full-scale
production.
”First of all we’re not
really going to full scale of plantation. The reason why we’re
doing seedling [is] because we want first to know whether jathropa
will really prosper or grow in the Philippines,” he said.
Favorable results of its test
program would lead to contract growing, he said, adding that the
company may use 10 hectares for plant seedlings.
--Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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