Bicol technology venture firm plans sorghum bio-ethanol project

The company is just one of the ventures expected to be put up in Bicol as commercial production of the biofuel crop is seen to be propagated on 300 hectares in this province.

From this plantation, at least three small distilleries that will produce bioethanol will rise in Bicol.

TAII itself plans to immediately expand sweet sorghum production on 60 to 100 hectares in the next season.

"Engr. Salvador Albia, the owner of the private company, is preparing to establish an ethanol production plant. A technology forum to convene a sweet sorghum industry in Bicol is also being planned by the Tropics Agro Industries and BIARC," according to , according to DA’s Ellaine Grace L. Nagpala.

The Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) as funded by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) earlier conducted sweet sorghum variety testing in different Philippine regions including Bicol.

Any of the five sweet sorghum varieties earlier tested for suitability in different Philippine regions was found to be adaptable too in Bicol.

These varieties that MMSU subjected to field trials in Bicol together with the Bicol Integrated Agricultural Research Center (BIARC) as led by Dr. Elena de los Santos are SPV-422, NTJ-2, ICSV93034, ICSV-700, and ICSV-93046. The varieties were earlier donated for testing in the country by the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat).

Private enterprises have started looking into investments in sweet sorghum bioethanol technology as feasibility studies prove that the crop can be planted at a small scale and yet become financially viable.

Sign up for our
regular news updates

Latest Bioenergy Industry News

•   Commissioner Piebalgs Attends International Conference on Biofuels
•   Daewoo Logistics Biofuel Project for Madagascar
•   Biodiesel from Urban Waste
•   Egypt Wants Brazilian know-how in Biofuels
•   Inland Empire Oilseeds Starts Biodiesel Production
•   Biofuel Subsidies in China
•   CME: Crude Oil Prices Impact Livestock Production
•   €50m Set for Wind Farm Investment
•   Planning Notice for Aegir Offshore Wind Farm Submitted
•   Agreement on Viability of Mammoth Ethanol Facility