Alsons drops Php2.1 billion ethanol project

Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., a listed company owned by the Alcantara Group, has dropped its plan to put up a bioethanol plant in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines, citing strong opposition to the project and delays in the issuance of an environmental permit. The proposed plant, with a rated capacity of 100,000 liters a day, would have used cassava chips from nearby Bukidnon province as feedstock. The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center and other groups said the proposed plant site was too close to a watershed, “a very critical source of the community’s domestic water needs and irrigation for the downstream farm lots.” The project would have cost Php2.1 billion (US$45.67 million). (March 30/April 4, 2010)