THE BUREAU of Agricultural Research (BAR) said on Tuesday that it is currently consolidating investments for a 500-1,000 hectare land in Negros Occidental to be planted with sweet sorghum to be used as bioethanol feedstock by an energy firm.
In a statement, the BAR said that its National Sweet Sorghum Program (NSSP) is already in talks with potential investors for the plantation, which is set to supply the feedstock to San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc. (SCBI), an integrated ethanol distillery and co-generation power plant in the province.
“At a production cost of P45,000 to P55,000 per hectare, the plantation will require a low investment of P22.5 million (500 hectares) to a high of P55 million (1,000 hectares),” said the bureau.
NSSP Project Leader Rex B. Dimafelis said that two companies have already expressed interest in investing in the initiative.
He added that aside from these two potential company-investors, government financial institutions like Land Bank and the Philippines (LBP) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) can come in to finance the plantation.
PILOT RUN
Last May, San Carlos had already produced a total of 15,231 liters of bioethanol from the sweet sorghum syrup produced in a pilot run under the NSSP. “We sold it to an industrial buyer,” said SCBI Vice-President and Resident Manager Arnel J. Amparo in the same statement.
Mr. Amparo noted that the firm is also, by itself, looking for a partner to invest in the plantation, as the ethanol produced from the pilot run “complies with standards set by the Department of Energy and is acceptable to the market.”
“We’re ready to talk to (plantation) investors. We’re interested in buying their sorghum syrup,” he said.
According to the BAR, sweet sorghum syrup goes through the same milling and evaporation process as sugarcane.
“A similar advantage as that in sugarcane, sweet sorghum bagasse produced can sustain the power and heat requirement for milling up to evaporation,” it explained.
The bureau also said that if this initiative pushes through, potential income for sweet sorghum farmers is estimated at P51,820 per hectare over two croppings at a cane price of P1,600 per metric ton (MT).
“NSSP estimated that at a cane buying price of P1,500 per MT, sweet sorghum ethanol’s price will be at P54.71 per liter at a markup for bioethanol producers of P8 per liter. This makes price comparable with crude oil-based fuel which at present is priced around P54-55 per liter in the market,” it explained.
For ethanol distillers, meanwhile, potential earnings start at P21.48 per liter for a cane buying price of P900 per MT.
“This income drops to P18.37 per liter for P1,000 per MT cane price, and further down to P15.25 per liter, P1,100 per MT; and P9.02 per liter, P1,300 per MT of cane,” the bureau said.
Bureau Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar said he agency is committed to funding further field trials of sweet sorghum to boost the production of bioenergy in the country.
“The immense need for our country to produce bioethanol locally compels us to commit to pursuing commercialization of the use of sweet sorghum as complementary feedstock,” said Mr. Eleazar in the statement.
Since 2005, the bureau has been conducting field trials of sweet sorghum varieties developed by India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
Sweet sorghum is considered to be an ideal ethanol feedstock since it is more resilient to drought.
Growing it requires less water, just around one-fourth of sugarcane water requirement. It has a shorter crop cycle of 110 to 115 days.
Its stalk and grains are used for ethanol, and the grains may also be used as livestock feed material.
Sweet sorghum is also a small village crop as it is a raw material for syrup sweetener and eventually powdered sweetener, vinegar, wine, cookies, and other food products.
In 2011, the Agriculture department and the BAR funded the sweet sorghum trials in Negros Occidental which showed promising result as a viable and complementary feedstock to sugarcane.
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Source: Bettina Faye V. Roc, BusinessWorld. (25 September 2012)
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