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STATE-RUN Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative
Fuels Corp. (PNOC-AFC) said it wants to fast track its jatropha
plant venture for biofuel use with the establishment of seed centers
across the country.
Clovis Tupas, PNOC-AFC general
manager, said the government’s biofuels arm plans to put up seed
centers in Northern Mindanao, among other areas.
“We are considering putting up
a seed center in Mindanao due to its strategic location. The company
will be informing the public as to where the other jatropha seed
collection centers will be located in due time,” he added.
PNOC-AFC, a subsidiary of
state-owned PNOC, is banking on the development of the jatropha
plant to meet an anticipated demand for biodiesel arising from the
implementation of the Biofuels Act of 2006, which mandates a minimum
blend of the alternative fuel at the pumps.
PNOC-AFC’s proposal to put up
seed centers is expected to increase jatropha production in the
country.
The Asian Institute of Petroleum
Studies Inc. (AIPSI) earlier said that unlike biodiesel derived from
coconut, which has over 1.5 billion liters per year in production,
biodiesel sourced from jatropha still has zero production at present
despite its being the cheapest feedstock.
PNOC-AFC plans to put up over
700,000 hectares of jatropha plantations as well as a number of
refining facilities all over the country under a five-year plan.
Bulk of the plantations are being eyed in Mindanao because of its
huge tracts of idle land.
To date, the company has
established 787 hectares of jatropha nursery-cum-pilot plantations
in Cagayan de Oro and Nueva Ecija—the biggest in the country to
date.
--Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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