CPC considers investment in jatropha

CPC Corp. officials said it is considering a plan to secure 10,000 hectares of land in either Indonesia or Cambodia to plant jatropha. The state-owned oil company plans to submit the investment plan to the Taiwanese government by the end of the year. According to Arthur Kung, vice president for new business and research and development at CPC, the plan would cost “several billion” Taiwan dollars. The refiner aims to diversify its energy resources and enhance energy security as well as lower carbon dioxide emissions by investing in jatropha, a biodiesel feedstock. According to Kung, CPC wants to tap into the expected growth in demand for biodiesel, particularly in Europe. CPC has planted about two hectares of jatropha shrubs in Chiayi, in southwestern Taiwan, to study yield and any cultivation problems that may arise before investing abroad. (June 10, 2009)