Aboitiz, UK partner allot $30M for biomass proj

MANILA, Philippines - Aseagas, the joint venture between the Aboitiz Group and Gazasia Ltd. of the United Kingdom, is setting aside roughly $30 million for the construction of a biomass facility in the country, Aseagas director Juan Alfonso said yesterday on the sidelines of the renewable energy forum organized by British Embassy Manila.

Construction of the plant, which is expected to produce liquid bio methane (LBM) fuel, is targeted to start in the second quarter of the year and will be completed in June 2014.

The company has yet to disclose the exact site of the plant but Alfonso hinted that this could be in Luzon.

 â€œSeventy percent of the market is in Luzon,” he said.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) disclosed last year, that it had inked a memorandum of agreement with Gazasia to “jointly develop, construct and operate plants that will convert organic waste into carbon-neutral, sustainable and renewable fuel for vehicles in the form of liquid bio methane.”

The LBM process takes methane from landfills or organic waste, cleans the gas then liquefies this into fuel for vehicles similar in specification to LNG but made from 100 percent organic material.

The plant will have an annual capacity of 8,000 metric tons of biomethane, which can help fuel 200 buses or heavy trucks per year.

Aseagas is an alternative fuel company providing waste-to-fuel solutions. Its core purpose is to help improve the air quality of cities by providing sustainable, green transport solutions, utilizing waste that would otherwise be left to pollute the environment.