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FLYING V on Friday launched ethanol-blended gasoline
in its retail service stations in Luzon in preparation for the
mandated blending of the alternative fuel next year.
“We’re now preparing for
compliance to the Biofuels Law. The law mandating the 10-percent
ethanol blend for total volume sold will take effect by February,”
Ramon Villavicencio, Flying V chairman, said.
Ethanol is made primarily from
sugarcane, corn, wheat, sweet sorghum and other feedstock. Locally,
the alternative fuel is sourced mainly from sugarcane.
The alternative fuel is
relatively cleaner and at current oil prices cheaper than its fossil
fuel-based counterpart, gasoline.
The Biofuels Act calls for a
mandatory mixing of 1 percent in biodiesel and 5-percent ethanol
blend for gasoline. The government is aggressively promoting
alternative fuels to reduce the country’s dependence on oil.
Villavicencio said E10 Power,
Flying’s V 10-percent ethanol brand, is sold at P1.75 per liter
cheaper than regular unleaded gasoline.
The oil firm sourced its biofuel
supply from Leyte Agri Corp., which owns the first and only ethanol
manufacturing plant in the country.
The latter also provides the
ethanol requirements of Petron Corp. Leyte Agri is a unit of TAO
Corp., which is mainly into molasses and alcohol trading.
Aside from Flying V and Petron,
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Seaoil Philippines Inc. also
offer ethanol-blended gasoline.
Flying V has 156 stations
nationwide. The company is a pioneer in the alternative fuels
industry being the first to offer biodiesel in 2005, a year before
the Biofuels Act was passed.
--Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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