Investment pours into Fiji pongamia project
Several international renewable energy investors are pumping F$174 million (74 million Euro's) into plans to produce biodiesel in Fiji using Pongamia oil. Pongamia is a deciduous tree that grows to about 15-25 metres in height with a large canopy.
Bio Fuels International, Evergreen Fuels from Australia and biofuels investors in the US are collaborating with Naitasiri Provincial Council chairman Ratu Ilaitia Tuisese to embark on the project.
It will be the fourth project to be established in Fiji to generate its own fuel. There are two ethanol projects using cassava and sugarcane, and two biodiesel using coconut oil and pongamia oil as feedstock.
Oil from pongamia seeds can be used in diesel generators and are being explored in hundreds of projects throughout India and the third world as feedstock for biodiesel.
Phase 1 of the development will plant an estimated 100,000 hectares of pongamia in the first three years alone.
The overall project is anticipated to total $870 million over the next 12 years and cover a total plantation span of more than 500,000 hectares.
Bio Fuels International, Evergreen Fuels from Australia and biofuels investors in the US are collaborating with Naitasiri Provincial Council chairman Ratu Ilaitia Tuisese to embark on the project.
It will be the fourth project to be established in Fiji to generate its own fuel. There are two ethanol projects using cassava and sugarcane, and two biodiesel using coconut oil and pongamia oil as feedstock.
Oil from pongamia seeds can be used in diesel generators and are being explored in hundreds of projects throughout India and the third world as feedstock for biodiesel.
Phase 1 of the development will plant an estimated 100,000 hectares of pongamia in the first three years alone.
The overall project is anticipated to total $870 million over the next 12 years and cover a total plantation span of more than 500,000 hectares.
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