The bioenergy website reports that Philipine Government's Department of Science and Technology and the Congressional Commission on Science and Engineering (Comste) are fine-tuning a partnership with the South Korean government to develop the country's seaweed industry for the production of ethanol and other high value-added products. The implementation of the project will be in two clusters: (1) in Northern Luzon, covering the provinces of Aurora, Isabela and Quirino, and (2) in Bohol, where a similar $5-million facility has been established to jump-start the cooperative venture. The seaweed-ethanol production technology was developed by the Korean Institute for Industrial Technology. The use of seaweed as a bioethanol feedstock is reported to have the following advantages compared to other feedstocks (i.e., lignocellulosic biomass): (1) seaweeds do not have lignin, and therefore costs for delignification pretreatment are avoided, (2) six harvests a year are possible, (3) seaweed cultivation absorbs more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, compared to the cultivation of other bioenergy crops, such as lignocellulosic biomass. Seaweed is also reported to have "many other useful by-products such as animal feed, fertilizer, soil conditioner and cosmetics, which offer excellent livelihood and agro-business investment opportunities". Invigoration of the coastal communities in the target provinces is seen as a potential benefit of the project..