The First Mindanao Jatropha Forum in the Philippines will be held today, August 28, 2007, at Cagayan de Oro City. This forum has been initiated by the PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corporation. The Forum will tackle the government’s thrust of developing jatropha into an alternative source of fuel for diesel and as a poverty alleviation measure for farmers.
The Forum will be highlighted by the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement for joint Jatropha ventures by PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corporation and Land Bank of the Philippines. The Philippine President herself is expected to grace this event. The Theme for the forum will be “Jatropha Feedstock: Prospects and Challenges.”
The Philippine National Oil Company-Alternative Fuels Corporation has been ordered by the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to mount a campaign for the promotion of jatropha as an alternative source of energy and as an alternative livelihood for farmers.
Topics to be discussed in the Forum include:
- Jatropha Roadmap, Programs and Activities by PNOC-AFC CEO Peter Anthony A. Abaya
- Jatropha Feedstock Production by Cesar R. Ventura, President and CEO, Royal Green Energy Development, Inc. (RGEDI)
- Research and Development (R&D) on Jatropha by Luis Rey I. Velasco, Ph.D., Chancellor, University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna
- Government’s Energy Security and the BioFuels Program by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes.
- Policies and Challenges by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap
- Financing Options and Strategies for Jatropha Projects by Land Bank of the Philippines President and CEO Gilda E. Pico
Aside from the oil from the seeds of jatropha fruits, jatropha leaves has been used by people in the community as herbal cure for sprains, and is very easy to grow in one’s own backyard and has a life span of 50 to 55 years. Jatropha Curcas is said to be one of the most ideal feedstocks for biodiesel production because it can grow on marginal land, therefore not needing to encroach on productive land that could be a threat to our food supply.
And if I said it once, I’ll say it a Million Times again: Mindanao is the best place to plant in the Philippines because of year long fair weather and because it is the only place in the Philippines that isn’t in the path of typhoons. But yeah, the upper east part of the island does experience a typhoon once in a while.
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Category: Jatropha
January 11th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
hi,im benie from cagayan de oro city.im interested in the business about the biofuel.i would like to know if you still conduct a seminar about this biofuel.pls inform me if there is.
im hoping for your emmediate response.
thanks and god bless