Toyota to invest in Philipines jatropha bio-diesel plant
Except in Europe, Toyota has shown little interest in diesel powerplants for anything but the Land Cruiser. Toyota even canceled plans to add a diesel engine to the U.S. Tundra pickup truck. But, a division of Toyota is currently in negotiations with the Philippine government for an investment in a jatropha plantation and biodiesel refinery. Trading company Toyota Tsusho will start off by planting and cultivating a one acre plot of jatropha and conducting a feasibility study of biodiesel refining. Toyota will partner with the government-run National Development Corp. (NDC). Toyota will fund the initial planting as well as research to be done by Philippine researchers.
Depending on the initial results, Toyota and NDC will look at further collaborations on large scale cultivation and refining. Jatropha is a preferred biodiesel feedstock because it consists of 30-40 percent oil and it can't be used as a food source.
[Source: Manila Standard]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Erk 7:26PM (6/19/2009)
Missing a "p" in Philippines
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Richard in FLA 9:11PM (6/19/2009)
Isn't Jatropha highly water intensive to cultivate?
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Chris M 11:13PM (6/19/2009)
Not really, although the best productivity comes with an adequate water supply. Many areas planning Jatropha production get plentiful rainfall, so it isn't a problem.
NeilBlanchard 10:30PM (6/19/2009)
Hi Richard,
Hiya,
No, jatropha is a drought resistant, scrub bush that can grow on marginal/junk land not otherwise suitable for agriculture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatropha
"The hardy Jatropha is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil [2] (average: 34.4% [3])"
Sincerely, Neil
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pinoythebest 11:33PM (6/19/2009)
for sure, this will be another source of corruption for philippine officials through the NDC.
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letstakeawalk 2:37PM (6/20/2009)
The "Old GM" had also been investing in jatropha bio-diesel. I hope the "New GM" continues those commitments:
"Under this proposal, CSMCRI will conduct a research, produce and supply jatropha oil for two years, which in the form of biodiesel will be tested on GM vehicles, General Motor India Vice-President (corporate affairs) P Balendran told PTI.
“Under this agreement, the research institute will also be utilising two acres of land at GM India’s Talegaon plant at Maharashtra for Jatropha cultivation as part of the company’s resolve to explore environment friendly operational solutions,” Mr. Balendran said."
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/03/gm-supports-csmcri-jatropha-biodiesel-research-in-india.html
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DasBoese 7:37AM (6/21/2009)
Diversifying feedstocks for biofuels is always a good idea. Especially if "Jatropha can also be intercropped with other cash crops such as coffee, sugar, fruits and vegetables."(wiki), so I don't want to hear any whining about "they should grow food instead".
Another interesting line from the wiki article:
"On Dec. 30, 2008 Air New Zealand successfully completed a test flight from Auckland using a 50/50 mixture of jatropha oil and Jet A1 in one of the four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines of a 747 jumbo jet."
Getting the aviation industry off fossil fuels is something I, personally,think is equally if not more important than reducing fossil fuel use in personal transportation.
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Chumroen Benchavitvilai 7:56AM (6/29/2009)
Can TOYOTA confirm the direction of the Biofuel derived from Bio Plant Oil wheehr i will be in the BDF (Bio Diesel Fuel or Methyl Ester) or BHD(Bio Hydro-treated Diesel).
So far Japan has never claimed with any clear and solid directive of the Biofuel esepcially the Disel sector.
It was crystal clear that the BDF (Methyl Ester) is having much interest than the BHD.
Can any one form TOYOTA or japanese governemnt or Oil copa nies in japan would gove a clear [osition of this mistry issue.
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