Toyota seeks jatropha project

Tsusho Corp., the trading house of the Toyota group of companies, is poised to join the government’s biofuel program by investing in a large-scale jatropha plantation and biodiesel refinery in the Philippines. Toyota Tsusho, the sixth-largest trading company in the world, plans to initially conduct trial cultivation of jatropha in a one-hectare area and conduct a detailed feasibility study on the biodiesel refinery, according to a draft of an agreement it plans to forge with the government. It will be the sogo sosha’s second biofuel project in the country after forming a joint venture with Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. to set up a $2.4-billion ethanol plant in Bukidnon using cassava as feedstock and producing 100,000 liters per day. NDC, the investment arm of the Trade and Industry Department, will assist the Japanese firm in identifying areas suitable for jatropha plantation and importing the necessary equipment for refinery processes. The agreement will cover areas of cooperation in jatropha cultivation and experimentation, full-scale alternative energy production, and other services. The trading company may also seek the assistance of PNOC Renewables Corp. and the Institute of Renewable and Natural Resources of the University of the Philippines System and other state-run institutions as resources for research and development. (June 18, 2009)