Group assures adequate biodiesel supply
Group assures adequate biodiesel supply
By Myrna M. Velasco
The Philippine Biodiesel Association (TPBA) assured that there is more than enough supply to meet the expected surge in demand should the long-delayed coco-biodiesel upshift to B5 (5 percent biodiesel blend) happen.
TPBA said their combined capacity of 877 million liters is more than sufficient to serve the projected B5 volume total of 650 million liters per year.
The group also proposed to government regulators a phased, yearly upshift starting with B3, then eventually leading to B5 to cushion sudden adverse market reaction.
This comes after a landmark study by the University of the Philippines revealed the immense carbon footprint and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential of coco-biodiesel.
The UP College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology in Los Baños concluded in its final report that the GHG reduction potential of coco biodiesel sampled from Chemrez Technologies, registered a substantial 78 percent lower carbon dioxide footprint over its lifecycle versus that of diesel fuel.
The study analyzed the carbon footprint of both pure petrodiesel versus pure coco biodiesel (B100) over the following life cycle stages: production at source, international and domestic transportation and refining in-country, up to local transportation to a gas station in Quezon City.
The reduction in carbon dioxide emissions calculated earlier for B2 and B5 are based on the replacement of 2 percent and 5 percent of pure petrodiesel with pure CME, respectively, on the annual consumption of biodiesel in the whole country.
House Committee on Energy Chairman, Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo has expressed support for the initiative to upshift the mandated use of coco-biodiesel, provided “coconut farmers should directly benefit in the planned shift from B2 to B5 fuel blend.”
Arroyo further stated that “raising the blend to B5 to mitigate GHG emissions and do our share in curbing global warming is both a responsibility and a patriotic duty, since this will benefit the economy, the farmers and our country,” and noted that, “the upshift is long overdue.”
With the country’s annual consumption of diesel fuel at nearly 14 billion liters per year, B2 has already reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 756 million kilos CO2E.
The substantial reduction comes as bonus to the other inclusive benefits of cleaner air, poverty alleviation, improved mileage and lower fuel consumption for motorists.
By raising the coco-biodiesel mandate to 5 percent or B5, carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by another 2.5 times, to 1,892 million kilos.