Ethanol plant to rise in Isabela
ILAGAN, Isabela – All is set for the establishment of a P3.5-billion biofuel farm and ethanol plant capable of producing 125,000 liters of ethanol per day in a former logging town in this province.
San Mariano Mayor Edgar Go said the Japanese investors have visited the 300-hectare site and have given the go-signal for the project.
“It’s all systems go for the project. The contractor and Japanese investors have seen and inspected the site. Besides, nobody has raised any protest against the project since our constituents know this would be an additional livelihood for them,” Go said.
A former logging area and hotbed of communist insurgency, San Mariano, one of Cagayan Valley’s biggest municipalities in terms of area, lies on the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
Aside from the ethanol processing plant, the project will consist of a 90-hectare nursery, part of a 300-hectare farm to be planted with sugarcane, the project’s main raw material for ethanol production.
“The construction of the plant will be in several phases. When it is completed, the processing plant will be able to produce some 125,000 liters of ethanol per day from sugarcane,” he said.
Besides sugarcane, ethanol can also be made from the extracts of common crops like corn and jathropa, which is being pushed by the Department of Energy as a biofuel source.
The government has been exploring alternative and environment-friendly energy sources like biofuels to lessen the country’s dependence on petroleum products. -- CL
No comments:
Post a Comment