In support of the Philippine Biofuel law and the Alternative Fuels Program of the government, the Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) has recently launched its new facility for the pilot production and testing of biodiesel from jatropha curcas.
 
The Philippine National Oil Corporation-Alternative Fuels Corporation (PNOC-AFC) and the Philippine Council for Industry and the  Energy Research and Development (PCIERD) of the DoST are also behind the jatropha oil production project.
 
Jatropha curcas is locally called “tubing bakod.” It grows sporadically as hedges or abandoned crops. It has been discovered as an alternative source of renewable fuel.
 
Situated in DoST Compound, Bicutan, Taguig, the facility has an approximate area of 140 square meters and is equipped with a decorticating machine, oil expeller, filter press, boiler, neutralization tanks, transesterification equipment, separate broiler, and a waste water treatment tank. Some of the machines were imported from India.
 
For the pilot production, more than two metric tons of jatropha curcas seeds were used to produce jatropha oil. The yield of oil was about 12.83 percent to 22 percent, while the processing of jatropha oil into Jatropha Methyl Ester (JME) resulted to approximately 85 percent to 89 percent yield. They are currently doing some tests on blending JME with diesel.
 
According to the ITDI, the production of JME would also generate by-products like the pressed cake and glycerine.  However, these wastes can be developed in high-value products.
 
If the pressed cake is blended with bone meal and coir dust, it becomes a natural fertilizer. Clean gas and fuel composite can also be produced from jatropha pressed cake, while crude glycerine can be refined into industrial grade.
 
In order to make this kind of facility more accessible to the public, the concerned agencies are working with the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC) of the DoST to produce a local prototype of jatropha oil expeller.
 
If more jatropha processing equipment will be developed, more communities will be able to benefit from it. Local fabricators are now being tapped by the agencies to make these prototypes.
 
Meanwhile, the PNOC-AFC is focused on increasing jatropha supply in the country.
 
The PNOC is targeting 7000 hectares of land all over the country for the planting of jatropha seeds, since there is not enough supply of jatropha in the Philippines.
 
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, president and CEO of the PNOC-AFC said, “Most oil wells will dry up in 30 years. Biofuel is renewable. What we need is preparation. ”
 
“We should focus on jatropha because it is a non-food source of renewable fuel. Food crisis will not affect the production of jatropha oil, unlike other renewable sources of oil which are at the same time, sources of food,” added Tolentino.