Philippines government to develop $5 million, 250-acre seaweed ethanol aquafarm

In the Philippines, the Philippines Star is reporting that the national government will develop a $5 million, 250 acre, seaweed-based ethanol plant and aquafarm cluster.

The aquafarms will be located in Aurora, Isabela, Quirino and Boholat and will utilize a South Korean ethanol extraction technology developed at the Korean Institute for Industrial Technology.

Sen. Edgardo Angara, speaking with the Star, said that seaweed grows faster than terrestrial crops, has no lignin, absorbs more airborne carbon, requires no pretreatment, and is suited at the Aurora site for up to six harvests per year. Total fuel capacity of the project has not been disclosed, but the Philippine seaweed industry as a whole realizes 50,000 metric tons of harvested seaweed and generates $122 million per year.

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