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Special
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Written by Sabrina Deparine
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Monday, 25 May 2009 17:03 |
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Page views: 1706 |
We all know that the domestic sugar industry plays a significant two-fold role in the biofuels industry:
 a) First, sugarcane is one of the cheapest feedstock that can be used for the production of ethanol.
b) The domestic sugar industry can deliver enough volumes of sugarcane to address the requirements for ethanol production.
However, what if we turn the tables? Does the sugar industry benefit from the biofuel industry? The answer is a resounding “YES”! Indeed, the use of ethanol-blended gasoline can put the sugar industry to an advantage:
• Using biofuels can actually help in addressing the surplus issues and concerns in the domestic sugar industry. Since 2003, the Philippine sugar industry has brought forth a number of surpluses, making it more suitable for use as feedstock.
Since the excess or surpluses in the sugar industry are now utilized by bioethanol production, this will decrease the volume of “D” sugar which means that there will be less volumes of sugar available in the world market. The use of sugarcane feedstock for ethanol production therefore affects the worldwide supply of sugar. In this case, the prices of sugar will surge up, giving more revenues and profits to the sugar industry.
Based on industry projections, the total demand for ethanol-blended gasoline for the first ten years of the mandate can be readily served by the surpluses from sugarcane/sugar production. Note that for the first ten years of the mandate, the ethanol blend is only 10%. Still, the possibility of increasing the ethanol blend in the future will not be hampered since the surplus from the sugar industry will be enough to address the demand for this.
• With the increase in demand for sugarcane due to the demand from the ethanol industry, the prices of sugar in the market will also increase. However, this is not entirely a “bad thing” since increase in the prices of sugar will benefit the sugar industry as well as the farmers and rural folks who are involved in it.
• Patronizing ethanol-blended gasoline can contribute to enhanced economic activities and progress especially in rural areas. This can be attributed to the fact that biofuel production leads to increased demand for sugarcane which, in turn, results to the opening of new cane areas.
In the Philippines, there is an estimated 300,000 hectares of land that can be used as new sugarcane areas. This is more than enough since the projected domestic requirement for sugarcane in the ethanol industry is only around 100,000 hectares.
The opening of new areas for sugarcane plantations can facilitate economic activities and progress especially in rural areas. Operations in the said plantations can help in increasing the gross domestic products and gross national products of the country as well as contribute to the flow of currency.
• Using ethanol-blended gasoline can help the domestic sugar industry generate more jobs and support the livelihood of Filipinos in the rural areas. As mentioned, planting sugarcane and opening new cane areas can offer more job opportunities and encourage entrepreneurship. In a survey conducted by the Sugar Master Plan Foundation, it was found out that for every hectare of land used for sugarcane plantation, about 1.3 jobs are generated. Hence, if the Philippines will indeed open 100,000 hectares of land to planting sugarcanes, around 130,520 jobs will be generated and around the same number of families will benefit from it.
Additionally, this will also encourage rural folks to get into small-scale entrepreneurial and livelihood activities. This means that more finances and other resources will circulate in the sugar industry.
• Using ethanol-blended gasoline can also benefit the sugar industry by offering more opportunities for and supporting other income-generating activities that are related to the sugar industry. For example, aside from being a feedstock, sugarcane is also utilized to produce sugar, other forms of alcohol, power or energy, and fertilizer. With the increased sugarcane plantation areas, this means there is also increased business opportunities in these areas. Again, this could mean more income to the domestic sugar industry.
With these, it is highly recommended that the Filipinos should support and use ethanol-blended gasoline. This will not only contribute to saving the environment and to reducing the emissions and oil dependency, it will also benefit the Philippine sugar industry.
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