Coffee Breakthroughs down south - Nestlé’s new farming methods produce high-quality coffee

By Dennis Ladaw

COUNTLESS classy, trendy cafés have been sprouting all over Metro Manila, much to the delight of the caffeine-addicted citizens of this metropolis. Many of them go on a drinking binge, which begins in the morning, and ends in the wee hours of the morning.

Coffee cherries Proprietors of bars that serve liquor could only wish they had the kind of clientele that Starbucks and the like cater to.
According to Nestlé Philippines, producer of the venerable Nescafe brand of coffee, it was in the sixties when the Philippines emerged as Asia’s top coffee exporter. This continued on up to the eighties.

However, by 1995, the country became a net importer of coffee. Local coffee production declined as aggressive Asian countries like Vietnam boosted their own coffee production. And this came at a time when our Filipino farmers have been having difficulty producing top quality coffee, as they remain incognizant of superior farming methods. With inconsistent yields, life became difficult for local farmers.

To counter this effect, Nestlé embarked on a major program to introduce new methods of coffee farming to local farmers. Through the Nestlé Experimental and Development Farm (NEDF), the program is also promoting a new system that encourages farmers to convert their plantations into multicrop-producing lands.

NEDF occupies a sprawling Nestlé property in Tagum City, an hour’s drive from Davao City. The place had once served as a technical training facility for the company. But now it’s open to farmers who want to boost their yields and increase their income. The course is given for free, according to NEDF’s resident agronomist Cenon Alenton.

Alenton also serves as a trainer, and he notes that most of the country’s coffee farmers have had no formal training. “By introducing the farmers to more effective agricultural methods and new technology, they can drastically increase the quality and quantity of their harvest. We really need to encourage coffee farming, and that begins with getting the proper training,” he said.NEDF also encourages farmers to engage in organic farming and plant other crops to help them sustain their livelihood while waiting for the coffee crops.

Alenton said legumes, root crops, vegetables and other fruit trees could be intercropped with coffee. Recommended legumes are peanuts, mongo beans, string beans and white beans. For root crops, Alenton listed gabi, sweet potato or ube. The three could be planted in between the coffee plants, he said.

Joel Lumagbas, Nestle’s vice president for agricultural services, said the choice of the companion crop should be profit-driven. “A farmer could further increase his profits by choosing a high-income companion crop called the Jatropha curcas, a bio-fuel oil crop. It’s ideal because one planting will last up to 50 years. It’s used as fuel for lighting, cooking and soap making,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Alenton said good harvesting methods and processing contribute much to the ideal taste of coffee. NEDF advocates the manual harvesting of coffee or the physical removal of ripe berries from the trees, as this method allows the selective removal of yellow and red ripe berries from the cluster. The green or immature berries are left behind for future harvest to avoid producing low-quality coffee beans. “Green berries yield flat beans, which burn fast in roasting, producing a bitter taste,” he explained.

Alenton and Lumagbas played host to a group of media reporters, who toured the NEDF. His fellow trainers even conducted an Amazing Race of sorts, with the media practitioners divided into three teams. The race aimed to pick out the highest quality beans from the NEDF plantation and sort out the best quality beans. The game helped us realize the complex procedures of producing quality coffee (as we realized how some media people could be so obsessed with winning a race!).

NEDF was established in 1994 and it has since trained over 10,000 farmers and agricultural students, which is equivalent to one-fifth of the country’s total coffee farmers. Alenton said that the new procedures they’ve been introducing will also help farmers sell their yields at a profitable price.

The efforts of NEDF seem to paying off. Joel Lumagbas said that in recent years harvesting and processing have “generally improved” with many coffee farmers now delivering grade 1 or grade 2 coffee beans.

Although our brief visit to the NEDF may not have turned us into expert farmers, many of us did turn into coffee connoisseurs to be feared by all cafés who buy cheap green berries

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/mar/18/yehey/life/20060318lif1.html

Tuba-tuba' growing gaining ground

TUBA-tuba (Jatropha curcas) farming is slowly gaining acceptance among landowners here and in Sarangani province as efforts are up for the establishment of a demonstration farm to convince more farmers to propagate the crop.

Benjamin Figueroa, president of the Malungon Fruit Growers Association, said tuba-tuba plantations have lately sprouted in the area due to its promising potential in the market.

Tuba-tuba is a rich source of biodiesel that is considered an alternative to the depleting global supply of fossil fuels.

Biodiesel is being promoted also as an environment-friendly fuel.
Figueroa said there are now around 300 hectares of tuba-tuba plantations in this premier port city popularly known as the "Tuna Capital of the Philippines."

He added that he is eyeing the development of two hectares of tuba-tuba and so far has planted some 1,000 pieces of such crop in his farm in Malungon, Sarangani.

"I'm moving to make this a showcase of profitable tuba-tuba growing. Eventually, this would become a demonstration farm where farmers would learn the rudiments of propagating the crop," he said.

Figueroa, who plants tuba-tuba in between his mango trees, said representatives of D1 Oils Asia Pacific, Inc., a subsidiary of D1 Oils UK, recently egged him to grow the crop and make this project a model farm in the area.

In its website, the Singapore-based D1 Asia, said future demand for biodiesel is expected to pick up in Southeast Asia, a region with a suitable climatic condition for tuba-tuba growing.

Last year, D1 Asia forged an agreement with the Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. to collaborate on a project in the Philippines aimed at rehabilitating land previously degraded by mining through the cultivation of tuba-tuba.

According to D1 Oils, the project would employ bioremediation, a means of restoring soil that has suffered erosion and pollution in the mining process, by planting jatropha to help replace lost nutrients.

The firm said tuba-tuba was chosen due to both its restorative qualities and its advantages as a biofuel feedstock.

Five tons of jatropha oil seeds can produce two tons of biodiesel.
In the Philippines, the price per kilo of jatropha fruits is placed at P10. A hectare of jatropha could yield 250 kilos of fruits in the first year;1,000 kilos in the second year; 3,000 kilos in the fourth year; and 6,000 kilos in the sixth year onwards.

While Tuba-tuba is a rich source of biodiesel, it is considered inedible as it contains acids that could kill human beings. (RBS)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/gen/2006/03/14/bus/.tuba.tuba.growing.gaining.ground.html

With oil prices rising, Asia is turning to plants for fuel

By Michael CaseyThe Associated Press

FARIDABAD, India—Indians know better than to eat the plum-sized fruit of the wild jatropha bush. It’s poisonous enough to kill. But with oil prices surging, the lowly jatropha is experiencing a renaissance of sorts—as a potential source for fuel for trucks and power stations.

The government has identified 98 million acres of land where jatropha can be grown, hoping it will replace 20 percent of diesel consumption in five years. “We have found that we can produce biodiesel from it. If we can keep the price down, the future looks bright,” says R.K.

Malhotra, who oversees the Indian Oil Corp.’s research center that is running tests on the oil. India isn’t alone. All across Asia, governments are searching for crops that can help them offset a dependence on imported oil that can only skyrocket as their economies soar. Palm oil and sugar cane are the dominant crops in the region, but everything from coconuts to castor oil to cow dung is being tested for fossil-fuel alternatives such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Most experts also believe that, using current technologies, there isn’t enough land to make a serious dent in oil consumption. Some scientists say production will consume more conventional energy than it will save, and environmentalists came out this month against plans by Indonesia to convert millions of acres of rain forest on the island of Borneo into palm oil plantations. Georgia Tech professor Arthur Ragauskas, who coauthored a study of biofuels published in Science magazine, sees other potential pitfalls.

“One criticism of biofuels is that if you want to go from 2 percent to 20 percent, you would have to direct so much of that agriculture from food to fuel that there would be real competition between the two,” he told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

“Even worse, if we have a famine in part of the world, we would have to make a decision as a society between food or fuel.”

For now, alternative fuels are less than 1 percent of current fuel usage in most of Asia, and experts say their large-scale use is years if not decades away. Still, “Every country in Asia is trying to commercialize and put up legislation on biofuels,” said Conrado Heruela, a renewable energy specialist with the UN Food and Agriculture Agency. “Right now, the target is not that big but it will be very significant in the long term,” he said.

Ethanol, distilled mostly from corn in the United States and from sugar in Brazil and Asia, is mixed with petrol. Biodiesel comes mostly from rape seed in Europe, vegetable oil in the United States and palm oil, coconut oil and jatropha in Asia, and is mixed with diesel. Ethanol produces 13 percent less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, a study published recently in Science magazine found, while the US Department of Agriculture says biodiesel can reduce carbon emissions by 78 percent.

Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej has a car that runs on palm oil and has been touting the substitute fuel to his nation for more than 20 years. Today, hundreds of gas stations in the capital, Bangkok, sell gasohol—gasoline with 10 percent ethanol—and it’s slightly cheaper than regular gas. Thailand also grants the sugar industry tax breaks to produce ethanol and is following the United States in a plan to replace the toxic fuel additive MTBE with ethanol. Still, supply is not matching demand.

On some Pacific islands, whose isolation makes oil imports more costly and vulnerable to market shifts, power companies are looking for other sources. “The use of alternative fuels is very much the topic of the moment among the small utilities in the Pacific,” said Jean Chaniel, the general manager of Unelco Vanuatu, whose company runs some generators on 5 percent coconut oil.

The Fiji Electricity Authority plans to switch entirely to renewable energy by 2011. India says it wants to increase its use of renewable energy from the current 5 percent to 25 percent by 2030. Much of this will come from nuclear plants, but it is also examining wind power and other methods including jatropha.

About half of India drives on gasoline with 5 percent ethanol, and the government aims to increase that to 20 percent in the next decade. In China, the government is promoting ethanol and is financing nuclear, hydroelectric and solar power, aiming to increase renewable energy sources from 7 percent currently to 15 percent by 2020.

High oil prices and rising car ownership mean “there is great market potential to develop renewable vehicle fuel,” China’s National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement. “Introducing ethanol fuel is good to improve the environment, stabilize grain production, and promote sustainable economic development.” Other countries are using the interest in biofuels to boost their farming sector.

Malaysia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, has issued 10 licenses for plants to produce biodiesel for export, mostly to the European Union, which has mandated that all fuels should contain 5.75 percent biofuels by 2010. Decatur, Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland last year announced plans to build a $29-million biodiesel facility in Singapore. BP is spending $9.4 million to study jatropha in India and in March announced it will produce 29 million gallons of ethanol a year by 2007 in Australia, which aims to substitute 2 percent of oil use by 2010 with ethanol.

British-based D1 Oils is investing up to $20 million mostly in jatropha in India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The Indian government says it has successfully run dozens of trucks and buses on jatropha-based biodiesel and 18.5 million acres of jatropha saplings are growing along the country’s railroad tracks. It intends to start mixing 5 percent or 2.6 million tons of jatropha into diesel by 2007, which would require planting 6 million acres of jatropha.

Seeds from the jatropha fruit are crushed to produce a yellowish oil that is refined and then mixed with diesel. Yields remain open to debate, with the Indian government saying they could be up to 4 tons of biodiesel per acre of jatropha—or just a fifth of that—depending on how successfully farmers cultivate it.

It appears to have advantages in Asia over competitors like palm oil, since it can be grown almost anywhere, meaning it won’t compete with food crops and so far has not appeared to threaten rain forest and other environmentally sensitive areas.

Chris Chatterton, chief executive of D1 Oils Southeast Asia, sees jatropha as “a major competitor with palm oil.” And a nonedible source is an advantage over rape seed or sunflower oil, he says, because “You are not taking land that would otherwise be used for food ... It is a bit bourgeois to take edible biodiesel so Europeans can drive around in their Mercedes.”

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0427/pers02.php

Plant oil-powered stove catches Gloria’s fancy

By Joyce Pangco Pañares

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday ordered the mass production and distribution of a new cooking device that runs on oil harvested from plants to 18 “hotspot” urban poor areas all over the country.
Mrs. Arroyo said the Leyte State University should fast track the production of Protos, which can run on jatropha oil, among other plant-based oil products, to help Filipino consumers cope with the rising cost of living.

“We will support the mass production and distribution of this cooking oil in 18 hotspots in the country to benefit those living in urban poor areas,” she said.
The Leyte State University is producing Protos, which is manufactured by German firms Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances Group.

Mrs. Arroyo said while the introductory price at P2,000 may be considered prohibitive, mass production will eventually lower the price of the plant oil-powered appliance.
Protos, also known as jatropha stove, was officially launched in Malacañang yesterday.

The President also ordered the immediate release of P500 million for the Philippine National Oil Co. for the planting of jatropha plants, locally known as tuba-tuba or tubang-bakod.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said the country imports about $7 billion worth of oil and petroleum products, 25 percent of which is diesel. Once the jatropha methyl ester product is mass-produced, it can translate to a savings of $1.75 billion.

The PNOC and the Armed Forces have signed an agreement for the conversion of idle lands in military camps into plantations for jatropha, a potential biofuel source.
Another P500 million will be sourced from National Development Co. for the mass production of jatropha cooking oil and jatropha methyl ester as an alternative gasoline blend.

Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino of the Northern Luzon Command said 150 hectares have been allotted by the Armed Forces for the test planting of jatropha.
The Camarines Sur provincial government has also set aside 10,000 hectares of land in the towns of Lagonoy, Caramoan, Presentacion, Pili, Calabanga and Sipocot to serve as jatropha farms.

According to Jun Lozada, president of the Philippine Forest Corp. which is a subsidiary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, about P50 million of the P500 million PNOC budget will be used for further research.
“Per hectare, a jatropha farmer can earn P10,000 to P15,000 for the first year, and after five years that will plateau at P60,000 per hectare,” Lozada said.
Neri, however, gave a conservative view on the private production of jatropha oil products.

“Let’s give it one year with the Philippine Army first. I do not want to be overoptimistic because this is still in the testing stage although some people are making glowing remarks over this.”
Jatropha planted from seedlings would start yielding fruits after six months, while those planted from cuttings would have an earlier yield at one to two months.

The University of the Philippines-Los Baños is now developing the protocol for the tissue culture of jatropha to mass produce the plant cuttings.
UPLB aims to come up with a high-quality jatropha seedling that is free from viruses, bacteria and fungi.

About three tons of usable oil or an equivalent of 3,000 liters of diesel can be produced from one hectare of jatropha plants.

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics02_may19_2006

President orders propagation of Jatropha trees

President Arroyo yesterday ordered the Department of Energy (DoE) to widen the scope of the proposed propagation of Jatropha trees by including in the program all available public lands in the country aside from the planned Jatropha plantations inside military camps.

Mrs. Arroyo issued the directive to Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla after her inspection of the 35-hectare Jatropha plantation inside Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija, yesterday morning.
Mrs. Arroyo said the DoE should coordinate with local government units and the private sector to establish plantations of Jatropha trees in their unused lands.

Lotilla said the country needs at least 100 hectares of Jatropha plantation to be able to start production of Jatropha diesel.

Lotilla added that the government is planning to establish its own Jatropha processing plant to become only the third country to have such technology, after Germany and India.

The Jatropha fruit can be processed into oil which is believed to be a suitable replacement for diesel. The tree is drought-resistant and has an economic life of up to 35 years.

"Jatropha is the best alternative fuel and we need to propagate this," Mrs. Arroyo said, adding that Jatropha is easy to plant and grows with minimal supervision.

Mrs. Arroyo congratulated Northern Luzon Command chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Tolentino for their contributions to the government’s campaign to achieve energy self-sufficiency through the Jatropha plantation in Fort Magsaysay. (David Cagahastian)

Manila BulletinJune 4, 2006

Tuba-tuba eyed as new source of oil

JATROPHA is resistant to droughts, it can stand up to two years without rainfall, and produces seeds up to 30 years.

The tree also has a short gestation period, it will bear a several fruits starting at about six months old and be fully fruit bearing between one to two years.

Briefing materials indicated that initial investment for commercial plantation of Jatropha ranges from P32,119 to P52,770, with payback period in two or three years.

A report from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources showed that a grower could earn P200,000 a hectare a year from the sale and processing of Jatropha nuts.

Based on experiences of several Jatropha-growing countries, specifically in India, a plant density of 2,500 per hectare, with a spacing of 2 by 2 meters, has been found to be optimal.

However, a lower plant density of about 1,700 per hectare was found more desirable in a trial in rain-fed areas on poor soils.

In India, Jatropha grown in suitable plantations gives about 2 kilograms of seeds per tree; in relatively poor soils, it gives between 0.75 kilogram and one kilogram per tree. Seed production can be between 2.25 tons per hectare and 5 tons per hectare.

Assumptions in a study state that a hectare of Jatropha plantation with average soil can produce an average of 1.6 metric tons of oil. Plantation per hectare on poorer soils can give 0.9 metric ton of oil.

The D1 Oils Plc., a United Kingdom-based company, has been producing biodiesel from Jatropha oils to meet the demand of the European community for biodiesel.

Its refinery can produce up to 8 million liters of biodiesel per year, equivalent to about 22,000 liters daily.

The Laguna-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (Pcarrd) report states that D1 has already secured plantation agreements in

Burkina Faso, Ghana, and the Philippines, totaling 37,000 hectares, and has the option to extend planting to approximately 990,000 more hectares in Burkina Faso and 5 million hectares in India.

Moreover, D1 has plans to provide modular refineries in India, the Philippines, and South Africa.

In the Philippines, planting of Jatropha is on high gear, more so in Visayas and Mindanao. The Philippine Coconut Authority is promoting its planting to coconut farmers.

In like manner, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the conversion of the Philippine National Oil Co.'s Petrochemical Corp. to Biofuel Corporation in order to promote Jatropha production. In fact, she ordered the immediate allocation of P500 million for the venture.

There are other benefits of planting Jatropha. Aside from using the seed oil as biodiesel, the extracted oil can also be used in making soap.

The leaves can be used for fumigating houses to expel bugs. The root extract of Jatropha plant can be used as yellow die while the bark extract as blue dye while the seeds when pounded can be used for tanning. The roots, flowers and latex of the plant are said to have medicinal properties.

Jatropha has been planted in the Philippines for quite some time but it was used mainly as fencing since it animals do not eat the leaves -- even the insatiable goat would not eat the leaves.

The seeds are poisonous. Dr. Carmina Leoncio, in a letter published in a national magazine, stated: "Jatropha is a common cause of poisoning among children, since kids are attracted by the appearance of the seeds, which look like nuts."

Dr. Leoncio cited a study done by Dr Irma Makalinao, which showed that Jatropha is one of the leading causes of poisoning referrals at UP-PGH Poison Control Unit and the National Poison Control and Information Service among children over the last decade.

For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here.
(June 15, 2006 issue)
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2006/06/15/bus/tuba.tuba.eyed.as.new.source.of.oil.html

Another wonder crop in the Jatropha curcas

by Teodoro S. Solsoloy and V. A. Duldulao

The oil of the physic nut, Jatropha curcas, is now being formulated in the Philippines as pesticide and molluscide. But more than this, the 37 percent oil content of this nut can be a diesel fuel substitute. Even without being refined, the oil can burn with clear smoke-free flame. This has been tested successfully as fuel for simple diesel engines. The by-product, a press cake, is a good organic fertilizer.

The Plant
The physic nut is a small tree, about 3-5 m tall but can reach 8 m under favorable conditions. The large leaves that are alternate to sub-opposite, three to five-lobed with a spiral phyllotaxis, are green to pale-green. From its smooth, gray bark flows out whitish, watery latex when cut.

The inflorescence formed at the leaf axil yields a bunch of approximately 10 or more ovoid fruits. These fruits are produced when the tree is leafless. Three bivalve cocci are formed when the seeds mature and the fleshy exocarp dries. The seeds are mature when the capsule changes from green to yellow.

Widely cultivated in the tropics, this plant is easy to establish with minimum inputs. It is drought-resistant, adapted to sandy, saline, stony, and marginal soils although it grows well on well-drained soils with good aeration. It is propagated through seeds or stem cuttings.
One hectare of Jatropha curcas, on the average, can produce 3.75 mt of seeds, yielding 1.2 mt of oil.

Potential
The potential of this plant lies in its multiple uses, the most important of which is as erosion control and for oil production. These uses of the plant are not new and there are existing technologies that can be used. Ten percent of Nicaragua’s diesel consumption, for instance, comes from Jatropha. The Philippines can also tap the potential of this plant. Since it can grow well in marginal areas, the lahar-laden areas can again be made productive through this plant.

All parts of the plant have uses. The oil extracted has big potential in the industries as varnish, illuminant, pest control, and soap. Moreover, the oil has a strong purgative action and is also widely used to treat skin diseases. It soothes pain such as that caused by rheumatism.

The press cake, after oil extraction, is an organic fertilizer during the leaves that fell to the ground enhance earthworm activity around the root zone while composting. The plant is a living fence and as hedge for grazing areas. It has a component that repels snakes in going to the area.

The juice from the flower and stem has medicinal properties while the latex can be used to arrest bleeding of wounds. The leaves can be used for dressing boils; a decoction from them is used against cough and as antiseptic after childbirth while an extract showed potent cardiovascular action in guinea pig and might be a possible source of beta-blocker agent as found in the study of Fojas, et al. (1986). When pounded, the seeds can be used for tanning. From the bark of the plant a dark blue dye and wax can be produced.

With all these uses of Jatropha curcas, this plant needs a second look. It might yet be a wonder plant that can alleviate the ills of an ailing country.

Vol. 5 No. 9 September 1-30, 2004

http://www.bar.gov.ph/barchronicle/2004/sep04_1-30_anotherwonder.asp

Jatropha fuels country's hope for cheaper bio-diesel

Tacloban City (June 19) -- Just like many other countries of the world, the Philippines has always been dependent on imported fossil oil for its fuel requirements. Aside from draining the country's financial resources, there is no saying when the fossil fuel deposits will be depleted. There is no knowing whether the Arab countries will be able to supply fuel to the whole world eternally.

It is, therefore, imperative, for the country to look for alternative sources of renewable fuel. Fortunately, the Philippines is abundantly rich in plants which are sources of fuel.
One of these, is jatropha or what is popularly known as tuba tuba which abounds on the tropical regions and which has been used as a source of oil for lighting purposes in the homes before the second World War.

The plant grows to about 10 to 15 feet tall, full of branches and leaves within the period of three years. Of the four varieties of Jatropha namely jatropha curcas, jatropha glanduflifera, jatropha gossypifilia and jatropha pattanica, a friend from India said that jatropha curcas is the variety that gives high yield of jathropha oil.

Jatropha trees grow from seeds. Jatropha seedlings are planted two meters apart in barren lands or in between coconut trees. This could also be planted on boundaries as fencing because no stray cattle or animals would eat it.

On the eighth month, the jatropha tree starts flowering and fruits ripen within 45 days. This Indian friend from the state of Kerala, said that for the first flowering there will only be one of two bunches of fruits and the fruit will have very few seeds.

It is advised that the branches be pruned after harvesting the fruits so that each branch will split into two branches and grow further. Within three months, flowers will again blossom and will do just that all year round.

On the second year, the minimum harvest is three kilograms of seeds per tree, on the third year, five to seven kilos, on the fourth year, ten to twelve kilos and on the fifth year onwards up to fifteen kilos depending on the soil condition. The good thing is that the life of the jatropha tree spans 50 to 55 years.

When 3.5 kilograms of Jatropha seeds are expelled, one liter or Jatropha oil is generated. All petroleum companies in India buy any quantum of Jatropha Oil at the rate of INR 25 per liter or PhP 29.07.

If 1000 jatropha trees are planted in one acre of land, this will mean that on the 5th year, the farmer will produce 15,000 liters of Japtropha oil and earn at least PhP 436, 050 in one harvest season.

Petroleum companies extract the glycerin content from the Jatropha oil and add some chemicals to make bio-diesel. Glycerin is used for many industrial applications and the oil cakes are used as insecticide and fertilizer.

Ironically, the first diesel engine ever made, in 1893, was powered by peanut oil- a biofuel. By the 1920's the petroleum industry had all but eliminated the biofuel infrastructure and usurped the market with petrodiesel because it was cheaper to produce.

Even then, the engine's inventor, Rudolf Diesel, maintained that "the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal-tar products of the present time."

Now, almost a century later, the world has no choice but to listen. As time goes by and global reserves of fossil fuels shrink, the biofuel industries have to grow up fast, and the Philippines is in a good position to step up to the opportunity.

The legislators should pass the law on alternative sources of energy and give tax concessions or other financial incentives to biofuel companies and consumers to speed up the progress, and urge investors from other nations to do the same.

With biofuels, we can help, not only to heal and preserve the air, the land, our own physical health and peace, not only to have a ready stock of cheaper biodiesel but also fuel the enthusiasm of every Filipino to continue working together to move the country towards the economic prosperity that the government and the people are wanting to achieve. (PIA 8)

06/19/2006

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news.asp?fi=p060619.htm&no=10

Nothing concrete on jatropha biofuel yet, says PNOC

by Rey Anthony Chiu

Tagbilaran City (4 July) -- LEST people fall into the hyped bright promises of the jatropha plant (tuba-tuba) as bio-diesel, Philippine National Oil Company Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC) says, nothing is concrete yet.

The warning came amidst apprehensions that people may go into frenzy in jatropha production and ultimately lose.

In Bohol, it was learned that both the Provincial Government through its poverty reduction management office and the Philippine Coconut Authority has been into brisk arrangements with local organizations and residents for jatropha production in Bohol’s idle farmlands.

“It is a misconception that jatropha is an immediately available alternative fuel,” said PNOC president Chief Executive Eduardo V. Mañalac during a senate finance committee hearing on the Department of Energy.

“But it may take years to determine the varieties of jatropha, which will produce the best yields in Philippine soil and climate,” he continued.

Because of this, National Economic and Development Authority Director Romulo Neri has already cautioned people from right away cultivating jatropha pending results of a study on which variety produces the highest yields here.

“Everybody might start getting into it and lose instead of making money, and we do not want that to happen, Neri was quoted by Businessworld, May 19.

This, despite having significant learning from countries specifically India who has had some 10-20 years edge in its successes in their bio-fuel program, said Reinero Medrano of PNOC-EDC as cited by the Study Committee on Alternative Fuels.

Even India still has some problems with production and seed segregation, Medrano shared.
Medrano said a study to determine the agronomic requirements of the jatropha species in Philippine conditions takes 12-18 months is now ongoing.

Here, PNOC right now is experimenting with growing at least three varieties of jatropha.
In this regard therefore, the government through the DOE has prioritized the use of coco-methyl-ester for reasons that it is of mature technology and has abundant supply of raw materials. (PIA)

07/04/2006

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news.asp?fi=p060704.htm&no=37

Jatropha planting pushed

LAUR, Nueva Ecija: President Arroyo on Saturday ordered the Department of Energy to widen the propagation of Jatropha plants not only in military camps but in all available public lands.

The President issued the directive to Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla when she inspected the 35-hectare Jatropha plantation inside Fort Magsaysay here.

The President asked Lotilla to coordinate with the local government units and even private agencies by urging them to plant more Jatropha trees in their unused lands.

The best alternative fuel

“Jatropha is the best alternative fuel and we need to propagate it,” she pointed out, adding that Jatropha is easy to plant and grow even without fertilizer.

The President arrived here in her helicopter about 9:30 a.m. to inspect the propagation of Jatropha trees inside Fort Magsaysay.

She congratulated the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) chief, Maj. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, and his men for helping the government in its campaign to ease the country’s dependence on imported crude oil.

The President toured the nursery where the seedlings of fruit-bearing trees and Jatropha were being grown.

She then inspected the 35-hectare Jatropha plantation and showed to the media the fruits of a seven-month-old Jatropha tree.

During the inspection, Tolentino introduced and demonstrated to the President the backhoe type and portable digging machine that he invented. Tolentino said the backhoe type machine he invented can dig 1,000 holes per hour while the portable digging machine can dig 100 holes a day.

The Nolcom is the first military command to comply with the President’s order to plant Jatropha trees.

Lotilla and Presidential Assistant for Central Luzon Rene Diaz accompanied the President in her visit.

Lotilla informed the President that the country needs at least 100 to 200 hectares of Jatropha plantations to be able to start production of Jatropha diesel.

He assured the President that his office is now studying the possibility of building the country’s own Jatropha processing plant. So far, only India and Germany have processing plants for Jatropha seeds.

Jatropha is a drought-resistant perennial shrub or tree that has an economic life of up to 35 years and can live for 50 years.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/june/ 04/yehey/top_stories/20060604top5.html