Singapore's first jatropha biodiesel plants eye exports to China

A new joint-venture, Van Der Horst Biodiesel, is planning to build Singapore's first biodiesel plant that uses Jatropha curcas and not palm oil as feedstock.

The plant on Jurong Island is the project of a joint venture between the Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, which is linked to Nanyang Technological University, and Van Der Horst Engineering. It will see an investment of around S$40 (€19.7/US$26.3) million and have an annual capacity of 200,000 tons per year.

The move is seen as a boost for the local biodiesel sector and Van Der Horst said it is planning a second plant in Johor.

Currently, all biodiesel firms in Singapore use palm oil as a raw material to produce fuel. But Van Der Horst Biodiesel is seeking to be the first to use a new feedstock – the oil-rich nuts from the Jatropha curcas plant.

Jatropha has advantages over palm oil, which is commonly produced in Indonesia and Malaysia. Professor Tay Joo Hwa, Director and CEO, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, said: "Jatropha can grow in very harsh environment. And we're not using that as a food source so it doesn't compete with the food and farmland."

"And because we have the plantation, and we have the technology, the cost of the feedstock will be much lower than the cost of other feedstock, such as palm oil in this part of the world and rapeseed in Europe."

Van Der Horst plans to secure land in Cambodia and China for the planting of the Jatropha nut:
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The company plans to ship the biodiesel to major markets in China and the region.

Peter Cheng, CEO, Van Der Horst Biodiesel, said: "Within the region, we already have several parties wanting to take up all our production. We have the oil companies in Cambodia and also the oil companies in China."

Industry experts expect biodiesel to replace a significant portion of the diesel market over time. Most recently, the European Union mandated the use of biofuels – of which biodiesel is a component – to form 10 percent of its transport fuel.

Van Der Horst expects the United States, Japan and Korea to follow suit by legislating the use of biofuels in the next few years.

Biodiesel is an up-and-coming alternative energy industry and Singapore has attracted enough biodiesel investments to become a major biodiesel production base by 2008. Industry experts project that Singapore will be producing 1.5 million tonnes of biodiesel by next year.