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Inedible vegetable-oil based biodiesel in Northern Viet Nam 171

to June and fruits can be harvested after 6 months. Hibiscus calyces are
famous for food uses in Viet Nam, mostly as fresh food or as an ingredient
for making juice, wine, and jam. Hibiscus seeds are provided only for sow-
ing. Average oil content of the seed is 20% (Table 6.1).

2.3 Vernicia montana L.
Vernicia montana L. (Vernicia) is a wood tree up to 15m tall belonging to the
Euphorbiaceae family. Other names for Vernicia include wood-oil-tree,
mu-tree, and abrasion-oil tree. This plant is native to Southeast Asia and
southern China. Oil derived from Vernicia seed is a quick-drying oil,
namely “Abrasin oil” which is commonly used for manufacturing paint
or Chinese black ink (Oyen, 2007). Vernicia can be grown in areas with
annual rainfall of 1600–2500mm and average temperatures of 20–25°C
(VAFS, 2009). In Viet Nam, Vernicia is a native plant, which is mainly dis-
tributed in the mountainous areas in the Northern and Central parts. Ver-
nicia grows quickly, and its fruits start to bear after three years of sowing
(Tran, 1996). In Northern Viet Nam, Vernicia seeds are directly sold to
China after being harvested and sun-dried. Average oil content in the Ver-
nicia seed is 32.6% (Table 6.1).

2.4 Proposed cultivation areas
The development of the feedstock scenarios was from multi data sources. It
started with the current Viet Nam policies on forest protection and devel-
opment, land-use planning, socioeconomic development scheme, and coal
mining development plan to figure out what activities could be supported
and allowed in each region. Then, land-use status was obtained from the
annual land-use report of Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources,
Viet Nam. This study analyzed data about land-use of Viet Nam in 2013,
and open-pit mines and mining dump site area in 2012 and 2014. After that,
all those data were integrated with the information about feedstock yield, oil
content, and potential feedstock for each region based on SASTREPS Pro-
ject pilot sites. Current data showed that mountainous areas, especially prov-
inces dwelling near to the national border, proved the highest amount of
potential oilseed crop production.
Furthermore, under current policies of Viet Nam, investment in those
areas could be supported by several policies including policies on forest pro-
tection and development (Law on Forest Protection and Development,
2004; Prime Minister, 2007a), land-use planning, and socioeconomic