Abengoa Bioenergy to Invest $250M in Philippines for Cassava
15 December 2007
Abengoa Bioenergy plans to invest $250 million to develop 50,000 hectares of cassava plantation in the Philippines for the production of feedstock for ethanol production.
Abengoa Bioenergy expects the plantation to produce one million to 1.2 million tons of feedstock, and generate about 150 to 200 million liters (40 to 53 million gallons US) of bioethanol annually.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation (PADCC), Abengoa Bioenergy will assist in identifying varieties of cassava for trial cultivation. The agreement is valid for one year.
In addition to providing the design engineering and the machinery required for the development of cassava plantations, Abengoa will also study the possibility of establishing bioethanol production plants in the Philippines.
Earlier, Bionor Transformacio S.A., a European biodiesel firm based in Bilbao, also disclosed plans to invest $200 million in the Philippines to develop at least 100,000 hectares of jatropha plantations to be used as feedstock for biofuel facilities in the country.
If I did the math correctly ethanol yield is about 400 gallons per acre. Sounds like they should switch to sugar cane or beets.
Posted by: John Schreiber | 15 December 2007 at 07:28 PM
Cassava will grow on poor or marginal land, while sugar cane needs better soil, creates more erosion, and is more sensitive to pH of the soil.
And the yield is still the same as corn ethanol. Not too shabby.
Posted by: Nate Fairchild | 15 December 2007 at 07:41 PM
I would like to contact and know more about Abengoa Bioenergy and Bionor Transformacio. Profile and partnership arrangements. Appreciate your reply
Posted by: vicky uy | 02 July 2008 at 09:30 PM