(EnergyAsia, September 11, Friday) — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has launched the Philippines’ first coconut-based biodiesel project in the northern town of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte province on Luzon island. A joint Philippine-Japanese consortium is investing 3.5 billion peso to cultivate coconut on more than 1,000 hectares of grassland. (US$1=48 peso). It includes the establishment of…