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BRONZEOAK Philippines Inc. is looking at putting up two more ethanol
plants in the country as the company preps up for the implementation
of the mandated blending of the alternative fuel next year.
Jose Maria Zabaleta, Bronzeoak Philippines
managing director, said the company is keen on putting up additional
plants worth P6 billion in Southern Bukidnon and Pampanga.
”Each project will cost at least P3 billion
because of the electricity component and we also capture carbon
dioxide and we sell it to the beverage industry,” he said.
He said the proposed facilities will each have a
capacity of around 120,000 liters per day and will be similar to the
ethanol plant in Negros Occidental run by San Carlos Bioenergy Inc.
The San Carlos facility has an integrated sugar mill,
cogeneration plant and distillery complex for ethanol production.
San Carlos is a joint venture between Bronzeoak
Philippines and state-owned National Development Corp.
Bronzeoak Philippines’ facility is capable of
producing 120,000 liters of anhydrous ethanol (99.5 percent purity)
per day as well as 9 megawatts of electricity. It will be fueled
entirely from biomass resources particularly sugarcane which is
grown in the area.
The ethanol facility will be fully operational
by January 2009 and will supply the ethanol requirements of Petron
Corp. in time for the implementation of the Biofuels Act of 2006,
which mandates a minimum blend of ethanol sourced from various crops
in gasoline.
”The plant will be operational next year in
time for the implementation of the law. We hope we can start
quick,” Zabaleta said.
Bronzeoak Philippines is jointly owned by
Zabaleta & Co. and British firm Bronzeoak Ltd. It was
established in June 2003 for the purpose of developing biomass and
renewable energy projects in the Philippines.
-- Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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