DAVAO CITY — The city government here and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are currently doing a feasibility study on the viability of processing used cooking oil for biodiesel fuel.
Atty. Tristan Dwight Domingo, assistant city administrator, said the city government has an initial study on how to tap used cooking oil from the households in 12 barangays and other private establishment and a Japanese team will be coming on November 16 to measure the amount of supply of used cooking oil that the city can deliver.
“From that, they will determine and will ship the biodiesel fuel or refining machine which will be viable on their part. Because we have to consider the demand, if the demand is less, there’s a possibility that the project will not push through,” Domingo said.
He said that the main goal of the Japanese government and JICA in helping the City is to preserve the environment.
“Converting it to energy or biodiesel fuel is an added benefit,” he said.
On Thursday at the regular I-Speak press conference at the City Hall, Domingo showed samples of the biodiesel fuel processed from used cooking oil that was provided by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office Chief Liza Madrazo which was brought to Japan.
“She brought cooking oil which she used thrice. This was processed in the Biomass Japan machine and now this is the biodiesel fuel,” he said.
The project would be participated also by Biomass Japan and My Climate Japan.
Domingo is hopeful that they can deliver the demand of used cooking oil.
“If we can generate enough biodiesel fuel it can be used by the city government’s collection trucks. It really depends on the amount of what we can generate. This will really help a lot,” he said.
Domingo said the city has already informed 12 barangays and different private establishments to be its partners in providing for the supply of the used cooking oil.
Davao is the only recipient of Japan’s biodiesel project in the country. (davaotoday.com)
