Basic Energy, German firm forge biofuels tie-up

Local energy developer Basic Energy Corp. has entered into an agreement with Germany’s MAN Ferrostaal Industrieanlagen GmbH to jointly develop alternative fuels and renewable energy sources.

MAN is an industry plant subsidiary of MAN AG Group, Europe’s foremost industrial player and global supplier of industrial services.

Based on the agreement, MAN will explore the possibility of investing directly in some of Basic’s energy development efforts. It will also act as contractor for its bioethanol projects.

It is also started the incorporation of Basic Ecomarket Farms Inc. for cassava development and production in the Zamboanga Peninsula. Basic acquired the former Ecomarket Farms for P12.5 million.

That will compliment Basic’s earlier initiative with Nexum Energy for the construction of an ethanol plant with a capacity of 200,000 liters per day.

It will generate up to eight megawatts (MW) of “green power, natural gas and organic fertilizers.” The plant will use cassava and other crops from Basic Ecomarket Farms as feedstock.

Casava will also be sold as raw material for animal feeds manufacturers such as San Miguel Feeds Corp.

Basic Energy is also involved in Basic Biofuels Corp., which is building a plant to produce roughly 200,000 liters of ethanol from sugar cane. It will also involve a sugar mill with a capacity of 3,000 metric tons per day, an eight-MW cogeneration facility and waste water treatment systems.

It is also involved in oil exploration and other alternative fuel projects.