Canadian firm to put up $25M in local biofuels

MARIA KRISTINA C. CONTI, BusinessWorld

MANILA, Philippines - Canadian renewable energy firm Green Corp. is riding on the global biofuel rush by investing $25 million (about P1 billion) in the local coco-biodiesel industry over the next two years.

The investment will be coursed through a third party that handles socioeconomic projects, and should benefit 100 coconut farmers’ organizations and cooperatives, and more than 5,000 families, the government said on Friday.

Countries all over are relying on fuel from crops as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels, which are dirtier and limited in supply.

But critics say using crops for fuel has led to rising food prices and massive deforestation as farmers convert rainforests to croplands.

Green Corp. said on its Web site it would deploy 100 mid-sized biodiesel processing units in coconut-producing areas of Luzon, based on a deal it had signed with an agency of the Agriculture department.

The company did not detail the financial deal, saying only it would share in the biodiesel sales.

Green Corp. said it was eyeing the participation of coconut-rich provinces like Quezon, Laguna, Batangas and several areas in the Bicol region.

The project aims to produce from each processing unit 1,000 liters of coconut methyl ester per day.

The company will deploy the GS1000, the company’s most advanced biodiesel processor. Patented in Canada, the equipment will refine coconut oil to coconut methyl ester, an additive to fossil fuel-based diesel.

The first 20 production units will be delivered this year, said partner Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp. (PADCC) in a separate statement.

The agreement was signed in Washington D.C. last month by Green Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rely A. Diego and PADCC President Marriz B. Agbon.

Philippine Coconut Authority Administrator Oscar G. Garin said the investment relies on increased coconut production. The Philippines is now the world’s top coconut oil exporter.

He said the country wants to become the top producer of coco methul ester. Local production, at 265 million liters last year, was three times the demand. Green Corp. said it would also launch similar projects in Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. - BusinessWorld

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