Merged: Jathropa production on AFP land / Biodiesel / Coco diesel

[texan]

Army camp is pilot farm for plants for biodiesel
Posted: 7:51 AM | May 28, 2006

Tonette Orejas, PDI Central Luzon Desk
Inquirer


Published on page B3 of the May 28, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

BACOLOR, Pampanga—Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, the biggest Army camp in the country, is now site to a pilot farm for the cultivation of biodiesel producing jetropa plants in Central Luzon, including lands covered by Mt. Pinatubo's lahar.

 
 
Jetropa, known as "diesel weeds," grown in the first 30 hectares in the camp seven months ago are now in the flowering stage, according to Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, chief of the military's Northern Luzon Command.

The seeds, which could yield oil, could be harvested after three months, he says.

He projected an income of between P10,000 and P15,000 from every hectare in the first year. Profit could double in every succeeding year, he says, citing industry estimates in India where the plant has become a conventional energy source.

Three kilograms of seeds produce a liter of oil.

Soldiers belonging to the Army's 7th Infantry Division have started preparing the next 90 hectares for a new round of planting. The weeds are known in the country through its local names "tagumbao" and "tuba-tuba."

Fort Magsaysay's role in establishing demonstration farms for jetropa cropped up when President Macapagal-Aroyo, in a visit in this town on Tuesday, asked Tolentino on the status of the project.

He says he told Ms Arroyo that the problem right now was the lack of seedlings. The first supply came free from the Philippine Forest Corp.

"There has been an importation from India but we still need to do a test to make sure those seedlings are not carriers of disease or that these can thrive in our country," Tolentino says.

Farmers are being invited to visit the demonstration farm and convince them to try planting jetropa in abandoned grasslands and other areas to increase their earnings.

The camp, originally 73,000 hectares in 1955, has been reduced to 33,469 hectares. It is 20 km east of Cabanatuan City and 135 km north of Metro Manila.

In the 90-hectare expansion area, Tolentino says less-security risk prisoners or those already close to completing their jail terms would be assigned at the camp as paid laborers.

Pampanga Gov. Mark Lapid, who attended the meeting with Ms Arroyo here, says the President also encouraged him to try the cultivation of jetropa in lahar areas.

"The President wants us to support the production of bio-fuel to prevent an oil crisis," Lapid told reporters.

He says this might be viable because lands made fertile by volcanic ash, mud and sand now grow bigger root crops. Soil analysis for jetropa planting should be done, though, he says.

Fort Magsaysay, Tolentino says, is able to ensure year-round irrigation through the Cordero dam, which he tapped when he headed the 7th ID until August 2005.

A 3-km pipeline had been fitted from the dam, providing water to a nursery and orchards using the drip irrigation system technology from Israel.

The 1,600-square-meter nursery beside the dam is capable of nurturing 215,600 seedlings that can reforest an area of about 1,000 hectares, according to Tolentino.

The fort has an 11-hectare mango orchard with 1,500 trees and a two-hectare rambutan orchard with 500 trees.

The former parade ground is site to a five-hectare Davao pomelo orchard for 1,000 trees. At least 200 hectares have been planted with ipil-ipil to prepare the site for a coffee plantation

[Adroth]

Interesting Army project 

[Adroth]

Military to distribute seedlings of newfound biodiesel source

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=40763

FORT RAMON MAGSAYSAY, Palayan City - President Arroyo ordered the military hierarchy to speed up the propagation of Jatropha seedlings, the newfound source of biodiesel, for nationwide distribution.

Maj. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, commander of the Philippine Army’s Northern Luzon Command, said the Chief Executive issued the instruction after she visited the nursery inside the camp on Saturday.

Mrs. Arroyo was briefed on the economic viability of the plant; its seeds came from India. Energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Romulo Nery, Presidential Assistant for North Luzon Renato Dias and Gov. Tomas Joson III of Nueva Ecija accompanied the President.

In a study made by the Philippine Forest Corp. (PFC), it was indicated that the tropical and subtropical plants that grow "almost anywhere" produce nuts and 30 percent of their contents are oil. The plant, Jatropha curcas, is known locally as tubang bakod, or talantangan. It is propagated both by sexual (seeds) or asexual (cuttings) method.

Oil extracted from dried Jatropha seeds is processed into engine oil that can be mixed with diesel fuel. Machines need not be modified to use the diesel fuel.

Tolentino informed the President that 35 hectares of idle land inside the camp are already planted to Jatropha, with another two hectares within the Northern Luzon Command in Tarlac. Mrs. Arroyo wants Fort Magsaysay to deliver seedlings to the 480,000 hectares of prospective plantation areas nationwide.

The propagation of Jatropha seeds in Fort Magsaysay started in October, after the PFC informed them of the energy and economic value of the plant. "We immediately conducted the research side by side with the PFC," Tolentinio said.

Briefing materials indicated that initial investment for commercial plantation of tuba-tuba ranges from P32,119 to P52,770, with payback period in two or three years.

A report from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources showed that a grower can earn P200,000 a hectare a year from the sale and processing of tuba-tuba nuts. Armand M. Galang

[philippinestoday]

very nice project...

next thing they should do is to make this project in a larger scale, wherein the AFP will be the first to fully utilized the use of biodiesel in all (diesel fueled) machinery...in this case the fuel dependence to the oil companies would be lessen.

[Adroth]

very nice project...

next thing they should do is to make this project in a larger scale, wherein the AFP will be the first to fully utilized the use of biodiesel in all (diesel fueled) machinery...in this case the fuel dependence to the oil companies would be lessen.

One would also hope that this savings would translate into more funding for modernization -- or at least just to get our equipment back in operation.

[darthnbs]

The only question I would like to ask is, "How much did it cost them to extract the fuel from the plant?" Will it be feasible enough to produce it without any "too much" support from the government or DOST?

[mamiyapis]

Has anyone here tried making a batch him/herself? Any input or experience would be appreciated! 

I'm personally going to attempt to make a batch myself this Spetember after I take my boards... just wanted to see if anyone has tried to do it locally.

[Wushu]

ingat lang.... putting any additive in your fuel ("fuel-enchancers", octane boosters, and yes, also biodiesel and ethanol-mixed fuels) will INVALIDATE your car's warranty......

[anak ni sarge]

Willie Nelson is touring the USA in his bio-diesel fed Tour Bus. Peope are commenting the exhaust smells like McDonald's French Fries! Mmmmmm, yummy.

If biodiesel catches fire (all puns intended) in the Philippines, copra prices will bounce back and many copra farmers who saw their income shrink when vegetable oil lost its place in the diet of Western countries will once again earn good living. The Philippines should promote this as fuel extenders to reduce our dependence on imported oil. The US is promoting it to support diversification of fuel and to help sustain corn farmers. We should do the same for our copra farmers.

[mamiyapis]

I hear biodiesel is hot now in the West, especially in Europe where diesel vehicles now almost number the same as gasoline ones. What's fueling the revolution is the fact that to use biodiesel, you don't need to modify the engine at all! Just pour the biodiesel into your tank and go! 

I'm personally trying to learn off the net how to mix a batch and try it out for my diesel Nissan Patrol. If it works out, I have plans to maybe try and make one of those mini-processors and perhaps try to sell some. I personally think that biodiesel can not only help countries like ours economically, but also our military, which uses quite a large number of diesel powered vehicles!

[Shingen]

I hear biodiesel is hot now in the West, especially in Europe where diesel vehicles now almost number the same as gasoline ones. What's fueling the revolution is the fact that to use biodiesel, you don't need to modify the engine at all! Just pour the biodiesel into your tank and go! 

I'm personally trying to learn off the net how to mix a batch and try it out for my diesel Nissan Patrol. If it works out, I have plans to maybe try and make one of those mini-processors and perhaps try to sell some. I personally think that biodiesel can not only help countries like ours economically, but also our military, which uses quite a large number of diesel powered vehicles!

Heard about this but never used it. Diesel is cheap in Singapore as compared to petrol which our cars must use. I hope your vehicle is old and expendable? If the diesel turn out to be bad, then you are looking at an engine overhaul?

[mamiyapis]

Well, the vehicle isn't as expendable as I'd like it to be... I still use it for going to the provinces whenever I know I will encounter bad roads. As for the biodiesel... it seems there is a method to tell if the biodiesel is good for use or not. There seems to be a standard color and consistency to it, regardless of what the old vegtable oil used for making it was.

As for the engine... I don't think I'd need an overhaul if ever I made a bad batch and poured it into my fuel tank... I'd just need to flush the engine with regular petro-diesel to remove the bad bio-diesel.

[Wushu]

As for the engine... I don't think I'd need an overhaul if ever I made a bad batch and poured it into my fuel tank... I'd just need to flush the engine with regular petro-diesel to remove the bad bio-diesel.

it may lead to that.... that's why car manufacturers warn that they will not recognize warranty claims stemming from use of biodiesel or ethanol fuels.....

the problem kasi is there is no global standard yet, and the mix varies per engine....

the use of alternative fuels in us and europe is actually not that big, because of the above-mentioned constraints....

kaya ingat lang, kasi some gas stations here in pinas have gasoline boys offering you ethanol-mixed fuel without informing you of the potential risks to engine and your warranty.....

[RDC]

Has anyone here tried making a batch him/herself? Any input or experience would be appreciated! 

I'm personally going to attempt to make a batch myself this Spetember after I take my boards... just wanted to see if anyone has tried to do it locally.

Hey! Nice to see another fellow Filipino sick of increasing fuel prices and is willing to do something other than march and whine at the government to save them.

I've been producing biodiesel for a number of years now. Its one of many self-reliance technologies I tinker around with, in order to cut down on household/ business expenses.

Other technologies you may wish to investigate are home microgeneration, wind turbine generators, windtraps, natural daylight systems, yakh-chal refrigeration/ airconditioning, water filter stations, water tanks, rain cisterns, methane gas production, low-water toilets, and much, much more.

Check http://www.enviroalternatives.com/ for more goodies

My electricity bill never hits more than P400 a month and I have the normal complement of home electrical equipment. My water bill is equally (rediculously) low. Fuel consumption (cooking gas/ diesel) is normal-high, but I pay much less than someone using only a tenth of my consumption.

Okay, on to biodiesel. I guess I could give you tips that I wish someone gave me when I first started out.

First, biodisel production is has a rather heavy initial investment in terms of time and/ or money. If you are building from scratch, then than means not only manpower for construction of your processor (finding competent workmen in this country are a bitch unless you want to do all the work yourself), but a more than average skill in chemistry to figure out PH levels, glycerin content, etc.

My best bet is to BUY a full biodiesel production system since you not only get a working system out-of-the-box, but all the chemical formulas pre-worked out for you, and a customer service representative you can bitch to when things fuck up.

The best bets are:

• Home BioDiesel
• FuelMeister

Try searching google for "home biodiesel" if you want to shop around. These things are expensive. About US$2,995 each.

You may wish to replace the polyethylene reaction tank with a steel tank. Same thing with the connectors, exchange plastic for copper. An oil drum modified to accept all the doodads is best. Make sure you don't manufacture this stuff in an enclosed area.

Shocking, right? But I love the trade-off. My processor can manufacture about 300 liters a day. Since a lot of restaurants just dump used cooking oil, they are willing to give you this stuff for free or for small change. Costs of production are about at P9.50/ liter and I sell it retail to my friends at P14.99/ liter.

RDC

Maybe next time, I'll talk about making beer at home. Good luck!

[Shingen]

Well, the vehicle isn't as expendable as I'd like it to be... I still use it for going to the provinces whenever I know I will encounter bad roads. As for the biodiesel... it seems there is a method to tell if the biodiesel is good for use or not. There seems to be a standard color and consistency to it, regardless of what the old vegtable oil used for making it was.

As for the engine... I don't think I'd need an overhaul if ever I made a bad batch and poured it into my fuel tank... I'd just need to flush the engine with regular petro-diesel to remove the bad bio-diesel.

Okok, you would know your own engine best. Try a small batch if i was you?

Not sure if this is relevant and it is pretty amusing but many years ago when i was a student and driving my 1st car, a czech made skoda. Its horrible.  I was driving my friends home when i ran out of petrol (see? I was so inexperienced). And two of them volunteered to walk to the petrol kiosk which we had passed some 5 minutes ago (10mins walk)

Had told him to buy a small bottle of petrol and guess what the idiots did? They bought engine oil instead. And i was stupid to allow him to talk me into pouring the engine oil into my petrol tank. The car engines sputtered and died, white smoking emerging under the hood.

Lastly, the incident cost me about 600 usd and a good scolding from dad.