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Special
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Written by Sabrina Deparine
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Monday, 02 August 2010 13:18 |
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Page views: 1578 |
The Philippines’ Department of Energy (DOE) might just heed the advice. Early last week, the DOE laid down its plan to allow the temporary importation of ethanol to address the demand for the 10% ethanol blend requirement of the Biofuels Act for next year.
 Speaking before the delegates of the 28th Asean Ministers of Energy Meeting in Vietnam, DOE Secretary Jose Rene Almendras admitted that they currently do not have other options but to consider importing ethanol. Indeed, this is a sad reality. The Biofuels Act has been passed and implemented a few years ago and yet the local ethanol industry was unable to attract investors to help expand it. In addition, the initial rollout of 5% ethanol blend in the Philippine market was met with much criticism. These did not give the local ethanol industry a chance to grow bigger and stronger. Now, with the mandate to increase the blend to 10%, local industries do not have sufficient means to support the demand.
To address this problem, the DOE is considering a temporary importation scheme which will ensure enough supply of ethanol while waiting for the local industry to become stable. Almendras hastened to add that this temporary scheme will not change the government’s goal to achieve independence from petroleum products.
Almendras assures the Filipinos that they just need time to further develop the local ethanol industry. As a matter of fact, the government will be offering incentives to feedstock farmers as well as intensify the infrastructures needed for the development.
Based on a report from the Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines, only 80 million liters of local ethanol is expected to be produced next year. This is only about 30% of the total demand estimate of 240 million liters. |
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