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By Conrad M. Cariño, Senior Desk
Editor
(Editor’s note: The previous
part reviews the history – from 1922 – of biofuel studies and
use in the Philippines, which was the first Asian country to make
commercial use of plant-based fuels and blends to gasoline and
diesel.)
Last of two parts
The Chamber of Automotive
Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI), an industry source told
The Manila Times, supports the adoption of alternative fuel sources,
including biofuels.
One of the car companies, Ford
Motors Philippines, in fact already produces and markets a “flex
fuel” vehicle that can run on either 10-percent ethanol or
straight gasoline. Ford is the first car company in the country to
introduce this innovation.
On the part of the petroleum
industry, a few of the “smaller players” outside of the “big
three” oil companies were ahead in offering biofuel blends for
diesel. Of the giants, Pilipinas Shell started offering a 10-percent
ethanol blend of gasoline, and a 1-percent biodiesel blend. Shell
has declared its strong support of the country’s biofuels policy.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap
said that by December 2008, the country’s first major bioethanol
plant, in San Carlos, Pangasinan, will start operating.
The only major producer of
biofuels in the country is Chemrez Inc., which exports to Japan.
More biofuel processing plants are expected to rise in the
Philippine in the next few years.
No need to rush
However, even if developments in
the country’s adoption of biofuels have been very encouraging so
far, there is no need to rush in fully implementing the Biofuels
Act, especially because some scientists are voicing warnings against
biofuels.
From the same article found in
www.sciencemag.org, Jorn Scharlemann and William Laurance warned
that production of popular biofuel crops can produce high levels of
greenhouse gas emissions.
“For example, crops that
require nitrogen fertilizers such as corn and rapeseed, can be a
significant source of nitrous oxide, an important greenhouse gas
emission,” they said.
And in the middle of 2007, the
United Nations Energy Commission put out a report that warned of
switching hastily to biofuels.
“Use of large-scale
monocropping could lead to significant biodiversity loss, soil
erosion and nutrient leaching,” the report stated.
Another concern raised is how the
development of vast farms for raising biofuel crops can affect the
country’s food security. Notably, the country can hardly be called
“food secure” or self sufficient, since rice imports have been
averaging about one million metric tons per year since 1995.
There is also the legitimate view
from carmakers that vehicles that are not modified to run on biofuel
or biofuel blends can experience minor problems.
A CAMPI official pointed out
during an Alternative Fuels Conference in May 2007 that using an
ethanol blend of more than 10 percent for a vehicle can affect its
warranty.
An official of a car company even
said making vehicles completely compatible to run with biofuel
blends will require the installation of certain devices, which will
increase the cost of a vehicle.
However, there are also accounts
of vehicle owners experiencing no major problem when using biofuel
blends.
Potentials abound
However, the potentials presented
by biofuels in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the country’s
dependence on imported oil can never be ignored.
In the Philippines, the
production of biofuels also has great profit-making potential that
would boost the economy.
For one, the country has two to
four million hectares of land that can be developed for the planting
of various crops, according to the Department of Agriculture. Much
of these lands are cogon and grasslands.
This means the country need not
clear forestlands for biocrops, as did South American countries that
made a rush towards the raising of biofuel crops.
The country has more than 324
million coconut trees planted in over three million hectares of
land, which can be an immediate source for biodiesel or biodiesel
additive.
Whether the impetus to adopt
biofuels stems from calls to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or
limit dependence on imported oil, what is very clear is there are
many positive benefits from the mass adoption of biofuels.
Many countries have committed
errors, some of which are grave, when they rushed to adopt biofuels
in a large. The Philippines can surely avoid those costly errors as
a result of the ongoing debate on the issue.
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