Pillar II provides the lignocellulosic carbon density that no aquatic system can supply at the volumes the country requires. It is built around Falcataria moluccana — falcata, the species that already underpins industrial tree plantations in Mindanao — complemented by a portfolio of native and naturalised energy crops, and converted through two parallel routes: gasification + Fischer-Tropsch (FT-SPK, ASTM D7566 Annex A1, approved) for drop-in SAF, and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) for biocrude directed to the country's existing refining infrastructure as crude-oil import substitution.
Where Pillar I delivers distributed, near-term, agronomically-embedded value, Pillar II delivers the volumetric, lignocellulosic carbon density required for national-scale biocrude and Sustainable Aviation Fuel production. The natural anchor of this pillar is Falcataria moluccana — falcata — the species that already underpins the Republic's industrial tree plantation sector under a long-standing programme supported by the DENR Forest Management Bureau and the regional development authorities of Caraga and Northern Mindanao.
Falcata plantations are already operational at industrial scale across Caraga (Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur), Northern Mindanao, and Davao — supplying the country's plywood, matchwood, and pulpwood industries. The cultivation, harvesting, aggregation, and transport infrastructure is therefore not speculative; it requires extension into bioenergy off-take, sustainability upgrading to FSC / PEFC certification, and dedicated dry-biomass supply contracts rather than greenfield silviculture.
Falcataria moluccana (synonyms Paraserianthes falcataria, Albizia falcataria; family Fabaceae, subfamily Mimosoideae) is among the fastest-growing tropical hardwoods in the world. Key characteristics:
Indicative dry-biomass yield on managed plantations: ~ 10–18 t DM/ha/yr, accessible across stemwood thinnings, harvest residues, sawmill residues, and dedicated short-rotation coppice fractions.
The Programme proposes deliberate replication of the Mindanao falcata model in two additional Philippine eco-zones where the species' silvicultural requirements are met:
Suitable rainfall (1,800–3,000 mm/yr in central and southern Palawan), well-drained ultisol and inceptisol soils, and substantial degraded grassland (cogon) and post-logging areas suitable for plantation establishment. Coordination with the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) is required given the province's strategic environmental plan.
Priority targets are upland Negros (where rainfall and elevation are favourable, and where integration with existing sugar-mill bagasse infrastructure offers logistics synergies); Bohol uplands; northern and central Cebu uplands subject to soil-quality assessment; and Leyte and Samar uplands subject to typhoon-risk assessment and species-resilience design.
Site selection in each new region will follow the same sustainability criteria applied to the Mindanao base: priority to degraded grasslands, post-mining rehabilitation areas, and previously deforested zones; explicit avoidance of remaining natural forest; mixed-species buffer zones; and integration with smallholder and cooperative cultivation models where appropriate.
A monoculture programme at national scale is exposed to disease (notably falcata gall rust, Uromycladium tepperianum, which has historically affected Philippine plantations), pest concentration, and typhoon risk. The Programme phases in — in parallel with falcata expansion — a portfolio of complementary fast-growing species selected for native or long-naturalised status, demonstrated Philippine field performance, and suitability to either HTL or gasification conversion. Indicative portfolio:
| Species | Status | Yield (t DM/ha/yr) | Strategic role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bagras (Eucalyptus deglupta) | Native to PH and PNG | 15–25 | Native eucalypt; very fast-growing; less susceptible to falcata gall rust; complementary to falcata in upland Mindanao and Visayas. |
| Native bamboos — kawayan tinik (Bambusa blumeana), giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper) | Native | 20–40 (perennial) | Fastest-growing terrestrial biomass; perennial, no replanting; root systems stabilize slopes; cultural and commercial heritage species. |
| Yemane (Gmelina arborea) | Long-naturalised | 10–20 | Established Philippine plantation species; well-known silviculture; complementary rotation length to falcata. |
| Anabiong (Trema orientalis) | Native pioneer | 10–18 | Rapid biomass on degraded lands; nitrogen-fixing; well-suited to early-succession reforestation of cogon grasslands. |
| Mangium (Acacia mangium) | Naturalised | 15–25 | Established Philippine ITP species; nitrogen-fixing; well-known biomass profile; broad eco-zone tolerance. |
| Ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala) | Naturalised | 5–15 | Multipurpose; smallholder agroforestry; nitrogen-fixing; suitable for distributed solid-fuel pelletisation. |
| Kakawate (Gliricidia sepium) | Naturalised | 5–12 | Live-fence and agroforestry species; nitrogen-fixing; smallholder fuelwood model. |
The Programme's research workstream — with UPLB CFNR (College of Forestry and Natural Resources), DENR Forest Management Bureau, and ERDB (Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau) — will identify, for each priority region, the optimal species combination, mixed-stand silviculture, rotational sequencing, and pest-and-disease resilience design. The intent is a national woody-biomass portfolio in which falcata leads on volumetric scale, native bamboos provide perennial complement, bagras and mangium provide disease-diversified rotation cover, and anabiong, ipil-ipil, and kakawate underwrite smallholder participation.
A central design decision of Pillar II is that the same biomass base feeds two complementary conversion routes, each producing a different category of output, each addressing a different layer of the country's import vulnerability. The two routes are complementary, not competing; they share the same plantation base, the same biomass aggregation infrastructure, and the same logistics, but they use different processing technologies and serve different markets.
Lignocellulosic biomass is gasified to synthesis gas (H2 + CO), the syngas is cleaned and conditioned, and the conditioned syngas is converted via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to a paraffinic liquid hydrocarbon stream which is hydroprocessed and fractionated into jet, diesel, and naphtha-range cuts.
Biomass is processed in subcritical / near-critical water at elevated temperature (280–370 °C) and pressure (100–250 bar) for a residence time of 5–60 minutes, producing a stable biocrude that is physically similar to fossil crude oil. Biocrude is upgraded by hydrotreating either at a dedicated facility or, more efficiently, by refinery co-processing at the Republic's existing complex refinery, under ASTM D1655 co-processing provisions.
The two routes solve different problems, and the country has both:
The HTL biocrude route in particular is designed to integrate with the country's existing refining base. The Republic operates one complex refinery; biocrude with properties similar to fossil crude can be processed in the existing crude distillation and conversion units (FCC, hydrocracker, hydrotreater, reformer) under the ASTM D1655 co-processing framework, producing the same domestic fuel slate — gasoline, diesel, jet, kerosene — with a measurable reduction in lifecycle carbon intensity. This is a substantially lower-CAPEX intermediate pathway than building a dedicated bio-refinery, and it leverages refining capacity that already exists.
The Programme's biocrude is therefore fungible with the existing fossil-crude logistics: same tankers, same pipelines, same refinery, same retail distribution. The country's fuel consumer experiences no change. The country's fuel import bill is reduced. The country's lifecycle carbon intensity is reduced. The institutional change is at the refinery feed-stream level, not at the consumer or distribution level.