Agriculture Business Week

Four years after its introduction into the country by an India-based research center and jumpstarting R&D initiatives on the crop, sweet sorghum holds true to its promise as the best source of feedstock for ethanol production. And such claim will be further reinforced as project leaders, designated focal persons for sweet sorghum, experts, technical coordinators and evaluators and members of the stakeholders gather for the “First National Review of BAR-Funded Projects on Sweet Sorghum” on 6-7 October 2009 at the Fernando H. Lopez Hall, BSWM.

“Sweet sorghum is a promising feedstock for bio-ethanol production in the Philippines that answers both for the country’s food and energy security. Not mainly for ethanol production, its grains can also be used as food, beverage, and feed, whereas the leaves can be used for fodder. Its stem contains high amount of sugar which can be extracted by simple milling and fermented to bioethanol,” explained Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar of the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR).

BAR is conducting the national review to consolidate current efforts and activities on sweet sorghum in the Philippines, particularly R&D, as well as provide relevant information on the adaptability of the crops in the regions and its other prospects as a multi-purpose crop. On the policy side, BAR hopes that with this activity, the sector is able to develop a framework for RDE on sweet sorghum and formulate plans for immediate and long-term activities to hasten its full utilization in the country.

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“A crop with a thousand uses” is how experts described coconut. And you can add as an alternative source of biodiesel to that growing list of uses of coconut. Biodiesel is a fuel extracted from plant oils which can be used in diesel engines without any need for modification.

Coconut methyl ester (CME), the biodiesel extracted from coconut, is considered as “green” since it is environment friendly and can help mitigate global warming. Greenhouse gases produce the so-called “greenhouse effect,” which traps heat near the earth’s surface. Many human activities increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which can result in a gradual increase in the earth’s surface temperature.

Carbon dioxide, the primary green house gas, occurs naturally but excessive quantities of it are released by burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil to generate electricity and gasoline for vehicles. Over 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released each year by burning fossil fuels.

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Talahib or kans grass(Saccharum spontanaem) is a common nuisance grass that thrives on dle lots and farms as well as on gardens, pots, terreza, roofs and gutters, fruit trees, and even on cracks of concrete surfaces.

It so irritating that one even has to allot a yearly budget to eliminate them on a regular basis. Otherwise, it overruns your plants, dirty up your patio and farm, and eats up soil nutrients that should be absorbed by the crop.

Like plants and animals, talahib has oil content or organic triglycerides that can be converted to a potent and environment friendly fuel called biodiesel.

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So it is no wonder why the Philippines is the first country in Southeast Asia to enact a law on biofuels. The Biofuels Act of 2006 aims to “develop and utilize indigenous renewable and sustainablysourced clean energy sources to reduce dependence on imported oil.”

The Act, which was signed in January 12, 2007, also envisions increasing rural employment and income, mitigating toxic and greenhouses gas emissions, and ensuring the availability of alternative and renewable clean energy “without any detriment to the natural ecosystem, biodiversity and food reserves of the country.”

The Department of Agriculture said the reduction in fuel consumption as a result of the enactment of the Biofuels Act would save the country the P17.3 billion a year spent on imported oil stock.

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Biofuels have been found to significantly reduce global dependence on oil. More than that, pundits believe using biofuels could also save our planet.

Currently, more than 55% of the energy supplies in the Philippines are derived from geothermal power, hydropower, biomass, natural gas, local coal, local oil and coco diesel. Thirty four percent (34%) are imported while the remaining 10% comes from imported coal.

These figures were revealed by Rafael L. Coscolluela, administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, during a workshop for media practitioners held at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in Los Banos, Laguna.

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Used animal fats and vegetable oils from meat processing plants and food servers can be converted into biodiesel, which may be used in a standard combustion engine without modifications and may be blended with petroleum diesel to improve its quality.

Based on a study conducted by researchers from the Aklan State University (ASU), these wastes produce a clear liquid without unpleasant smell with the same properties as mineral fossil diesel oil.

ASU researchers said that an engine fueled by a mixture of 80% petroleum diesel and 20% biodiesel had lesser smoke emissions and lower engine noise compared to that fueled by pure petroleum diesel.

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A biodiesel project which utilizes waste fats and oils will soon be implemented in Aklan after the Department of Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund Executive Committee (ACEF-EXECOM) has approved a grant worth P14.93 million for the establishment of a 200-liter a day capacity biodiesel production facility at the AkIan State University (ASU) in Banga, Aklan.

The project which is the first of its kind in Western Visayas and the first biodiesel project by a state university in the country to receive an ACEF grant, is seen to reduce oil-containing wastes from a growing number of meat processors and food establishments in Aklan.

These oil-containing wastes, which are either dumped in the ground or sold to other food processors for recycling, can be converted into coco-methyl ester (CME), according to a research tem from ASU composed of Dr. Mary Eden Teruel, Engr. Tomas Ortega and Prof. Arlene de la Cruz.

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Each member of an urban household uses at least 100 liters of water for drinking, washing and bathing. Of this volume, about 90 percent is disposed off as wastewater (”grey water”) into the environment.

The efficient reuse or recycling of “grey water” can significantly reduce water consumption, produce food like vegetables and fish, and minimize environmental pollution.

To reduce the use of potable water at the household, the flushing of toilets with laundry wastewater can be done. One toilet flush requires 20-40 liters of water. Laundry wastewater applied at 1.28 liters per cubic meter per day was found to be a good liquid fertilizer for tilapia production (0.87 kg/m2 per day) in a backyard pond by Aquatic Biosystems (ABS), a private R&D firm, monitored by the PCAMRD-DOST.

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The Industrial Technology Development Institute(ITDI) of the Department of Science and Technology has developed a reactor which produces cheaper activated carbon(AC) from dried coconut shells and surplus energy which can be converted into electricity.

Cora Magpantay, senior science research specialist of ITDI’s Fuels and Energy Division, said that in the new technology, carbonization and activation are done in a single reactor whereas in the conventional process, these are done separately and eats up more energy.

The reactor has a capacity of 15 kilos per hour while in the conventional process, only 12 kilos of AC are produced per hour. And since it follows a continuous process and uses the gas that it produced for activation, it also reduces the production cost. “The process that takes place in the reactor is self-sustaining since the gas produced is also used to produce steam that is needed in the activation phase.” she added.

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Many farmers are losing their chance to benefit from the nutrients in farm wastes like rice straw since they keep burning them right after threshing. These farmers don’t realize that they can get back a good amount of nutrients from rice straw if only they decompose the biomass after the harvest season.

In areas where two crops of rice are grown in a year and rice straw has to be disposed before the next crop, farmers need not worry on how to do it.. A massive information campaign should be launched to teach farmers on how not to waste their farm wastes.

Moreover, LGU officials are not enforcing the Clean Air Act, they are not doing anything to prohibit the burning of biomass (rice straw, grasses, corn stover). It also rests on LGU officials to campaign for the utilization of farm biomass as soil nutrient sources and enforce laws prohibiting burning.

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In three years, chickpea(Cicer arietinum L.), a very nutritious legume and a potential source of biofuel, would become on alternative high-value crop of the Cordillera Administrative Region(CAR).

The farmers in North Luzon are now learning the latest technology on chickpea production through the P9-million Philippine Chickpea Project of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), Benguet State University (BSU), and the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR).

According to Dr. Myer Mula of DACAR and Dr. Fernando R. Gonzales of BSU, the proponents of the project, the project aims to promote the cultivation of chickpea, or garbanzos, as an alternative commercial crop over the next three years because it will have a significant niche in the food economy of the households, especially in the Cordillera where the daytime temperature of 70°F – 80°F and the night time temperature of nearly 65°F is suitable for the production of edible legumes like chickpea. In doing so, its commercial production would stabilize and sustain the livelihood productivity of CAR.

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Agri-waste could be a valuable resource.

Take the case of Cecilia Stock Farm (CSF), a large-scale piggery in Barangay Mahayag, Bunawan District in Davao City that sources its power from the methane gas emitted from pig manure.

Teresita Pascual, the CSF’s general manager said the bio-methane plant recently established in their farm can produce 300 kilowatt of electricity per day from the manure of 15,000 pigs.

Since the establishment of their farm in the `80s, Pascual said they had seen the potential of converting pig manure into renewable energy.

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Wind is simply air in motion. It is caused by the sun’s uneven heating of the Earth’s surface. This happens when the Earth’s surface which is made of different types of land and water; absorbs the sun’s heat at different rates. The presence of clouds can also locally reduce the effectiveness of the sun’s rays.

During the day, the air above the land heats up faster than the air over water. The warm air over the land expands and rises up in the atmosphere, and the heavier, cooler air rushes in to take its place, creating winds. At night, the small-scale winds are reversed because the air is getting cool more rapidly over land than over water.

In the same way, the large scale atmospheric winds that circle the Earth are created because the land and sea near the earth’s equator is heated more by the sun than the land and sea near the North and South Poles.

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Bronzeoak Philippines’ Jose Maria T. Zabaleta talks about the first Integrated Ethanol Distillery and Power Cogeneration Plant in the country.

Last 2006, Jose Maria T. Zabaleta was the executive director of the Philippine Sugar Millers Association, (PSMA) Inc. and eagerly spoke about his being an advocate of the use of sugarcane as a source of energy and fuel ethanol.

Today, the dynamic Zabaleta wears a different hat. As President and COO of Bronzeoak Philippines and Chairman of the San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc., the maverick businessman talks about sugarcane in a different light. It’s no longer just a mere crop from which we sweeten our foods, but also as potent source of fuel and electricity.

Together with Ms. Sheva Mehrabi, Bronzeoak Philippines’ corporate communication and marketing officer, Mr. Zabaleta giddily shared with us the huge and bright potentials of his latest project-the San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc.

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