Van Der Horst to build biodiesel plant

Van Der Horst Engineering signed a joint venture agreement with the Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, a division of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, to build a 200,000-metric-ton-per-annum biodiesel plant on Jurong Island in Singapore. The biodiesel plant will cost about S$40 million (US$26.34 million). Van Der Horst has an agreement with the provincial government of Pursat, Cambodia, to grow jatropha on 20,000 hectares of land. In addition, the JV intends to develop plantations in India, Laos and Myanmar. Peter Cheng, chief executive officer of the Singapore-based VDH predicts that by the end of next year, Singapore will become one of the largest biodiesel production bases in Asia, with a capacity to produce 1.5 million tons annually. (April 12, 2007)