EnviTec breaks ground on Philippines biogas plant

EnviTec breaks ground on Philippines biogas plant

A ground-breaking ceremony has been carried out for EnviTec's first biogas
project in the Philippines.

The German biogas specialist, headquartered in Lower Saxony, will construct
a 1.2 MW biogas plant in Candelaria, Quezon province.

"In addition to this project under construction we are planning to develop
and replicate more projects to help the local farmers address the chicken
manure disposal problem as well as the environmental issue associated with
the burning of rice and corn straw", said Andy Alquiros, president of First
Quezon Biogas Corporation (FQBC), the association of local poultry farmers
which developed the project in partnership with Singaporean co-investor
Yamato Technologies Pte.

Poultry manure has become an increasing problem in Quezon, tonnes of it
accumulating each year. First Quezon Biogas and Yamato approached EnviTec to
address the issue, leading to the ambitious waste-energy project.

"The current project benefits from the subsidies of the Renewable Energy Act
passed by the government in 2008," Marcello Barbato, EnviTec Sales Manager
Southeast Asia, said.

Regularly suffering from energy shortages, the Philippines have long had a
need for an affordable, reliable energy supply. Energy prices in the
archipelago state average $0.23/kWh, the most expensive in Southeast Asia
and in fact comparable to 'highly-developed' countries such as Japan,
according to market analysis carried out by the German-Philippines Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI).

The Philippines therefore offer significant potential for the use of biomass
and biogas. Alongside animal waste, sugar cane and rice production in the
region offer potential feedstocks for energy production. The GPCCI study
suggests that the waste from sugar mills, rice and coconut farms presents
potential production capabilities of 90, 40 and 20 MW.

Meanwhile, climate legislation in the Philippines states that by 2030 total
capacities for renewable energies are to be increased to 15,304 gigawatts,
thereby contributing to the country's energy security. This corresponds to a
three-fold increase on 2010 capacity.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.bioenergy-news.com/display_news/12714/EnviTec_breaks_ground_on_Ph
ilippines_biogas_plant/

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com