10-10-06

The passage of the bio-fuels bill at the Senate and the House of Representatives will save the Philippines as much as $ 400 mm worth of imported oil, which will translate to earnings by Filipino farmers each year, the Department of Energy said.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said that the bill, which the Senate passed on third and final reading, is expected to liberate the country’s transport sector from full dependence on imported fuel.

“We will attract more investors and we will be able to develop this new industry more rapidly as we shift to more indigenous fuels in response to the uncertainty of the world’s energy supply. This bill will build new industries, new domestic markets, new investments, new local expertise,” Lotilla said.
The House of Representatives earlier approved its version of the bill in November last year. Both houses of Congress are expected to convene the bicameral conference committee to reconcile their separate versions once the legislative body resumes session.

Studies showed that a 1 % displacement of petroleum-based diesel will earn foreign exchange savings for the country of about $ 25 mm while 1 5 % bioethanol blend will result in foreign exchange savings of about $ 179 mm. A 10 % blend, meanwhile, will mean gasoline displacement of some 565 mm litres amounting $ 396 mm of foreign exchange savings per year.
Lotilla said the agriculture sector would earn the same amounts with the implementation of the biofuels act, which requires a minimum 1 % biodiesel blend into all diesel engine fuels upon the approval of the implementing rules and a minimum 5 % bioethanol blend into all gasoline fuel distributed and sold in the country within two years upon its effectivity. The sugar industry is expected to benefit from the full implementation of the law.

The mandated blend will increase to 2 % for biodiesel two years from the effectivity of the law and to 10 % for bioethanol four years after.
Lotilla said it would not be difficult and costly to blend biofuels into gasoline and diesel since the bioethanol and biodiesel blends would not require engine modifications.