Gov't abandons dev't of jatropha as fuel

MANILA, Philippines - The government has decided abandon the development of jatropha as an alternative source of fuel, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said.

He said PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corp. (AFC), a unit of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) mandated to develop alternative sources of fuel, will no longer pursue the development of jatropha but instead may switch to other forms of alternative fuels such as cassava and sweet sorghum.

 “We will no longer push through with jatropha. We will look for other forms of alternative fuels. We want those that will not compete with food,” he said,

He said they may also be eyeing to develop “algae” as an alternative fuel source.

Asked about the contracts already entered into by the government which are related to the development of jatropha, he said “we have already made some arrangements about that.”

Based on preliminary studies, jatropha has yet to match the yields being produced from palm oil which are now about 600 kilograms of oil per 6.25 hectares of land.

In other countries like Thailand, there is still hesitation on the utilization of jatropha as a feedstock because of the level of yields compared to other feedstock like cassava, palm oil and sweet sorghum.

It would be noted that for the past years, PNOC-AFC had given much support on jatropha. In 2009, about P1 billion had been allotted to the company to develop the feedstock.

But Almendras said the P1-billion fund had been totally spent. “About P400 million is left from that fund.” He said they may use this remaining fund to develop the other forms of alternative fuels.

The passage of the Biofuels Law in 2006 encouraged the company to look into jatropha. The law mandates biodiesel blend on all diesel products sold in the country.