RP forests are 'oil wells' - new book

Philippine forests are virtual “oil wells”.

They nurture trees and plants that contain oils waiting to be tapped to feed the country’s biofuel industry.

Attesting to this is a new book that rolled off the press recently.

Titled “Biofuels from Philippine Plants,” the 280-page volume, complete with colored photographs of 52 entries, was authored by Dr. Elvira C. Fernandez, Enrique N. Crizaldo, and Babylyn U. Tizon.

Dr. Fernandez is a retired professor of wood chemistry at the UP Los Baños-College of Forestry and Natural Resources while Crizaldo and Tizon are president and agronomist, respectively, of Asia-Pacific Biofuels Corp. (ABC), publisher of the book.

The book contains 29 trees, 19 shrubs, three grasses, and one vine identified as biofuel plants found in the Philippines and in other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Some of the tree entries are now popular among Filipinos: Benguet pine, petroleum nut, pili, kapok, lumbang, bitaog, kalantas, kalachuchi, eucalyptus, apitong, and horse radish tree (malunggay).

The other entries are coconut, oil palm, sugarcane, corn, cassava, sorhum, tubang bakod (Jatropha), poinsettia, malapascua, crown of thorns, and castor beans.

Some of those included in the book are plants identified by various researchers to be potential sources of fuel, and others are traditionally being used as materials for lighting and starting fire.

The authors and publisher said that data and information put together on these biofuel plants date from 1921 to the present but much of the data further need to be validated, specifically in terms of biofuel applications.

ABC conceded: “Our research shows that there remains very large information gap to be filled to make these plants immediately integrated in our drive for energy dependence.” – Rudy A. Fernandez