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Brewing Fuel
In Binanongan, Rizal, used cooking oil is being turned into diesel
By Junep Ocampo
Franklin del Rosario and Gerry Tabares, mechanical engineer and businessman, respectively, have found a new way of beating the high cost of fuel – by scrounging used cooking oil from fastfood restaurants and turning these into diesel.
The two are the founding fathers of SC Holdings, Inc., a company registered only recently with the Securities and Exchange Commission but has been operating since last year. Their main business is the manufacture of biodiesel straight from waste vegetable oil.
SC Holdings has other “fathers” as incorporators, called such because of their occupation -- they are priests. In fact, “SC” refers to Servant Community, a religious group under the Catholic Church, and being a non-profit organization, the group had to form a private company to engage in business.
Way of helping
Tabares revealed that manufacturing biodiesel is SC’s way of helping its members cope with the ever-rising fuel prices and protect the environment. This is part of the “holistic salvation” that the group is promoting, he says, which is saving the body and not just the soul.
SC Holdings’ biodiesel factory is right inside the seminary called the Pastoral Assistance in Community Evangelism and Mission or PACEM in Binanongan, Rizal. Built from mostly donated equipment and materials, the factory has become the main source of funds for the religious organization.
Fr. Leonardo Polinar, who heads PACEM, said making biodiesel is now a livelihood program for SC members. According to him, SC members serve as “agents” who go to restaurants looking for used cooking oil. They get P25 per every pail of oil they “discover” while SC Holdings buy the oil from the restaurants from as low as P200 per pail in restaurants like Pier One to as high as P300 per pail in a branch of one fastfood giant.
A pail contains approximately 17 liters of oil, and sometimes it’s not all oil. “Minsan may ulo pa ng isda,” said Tabares.
Old technology
It was Del Rosario, a native of San Pablo, Laguna, who perfected the biodiesel brewing process. He was quick to say that he did not invent the technology, which he says has been widely available in the Internet.
“Home-brewing biodiesel has been practiced in other countries as a hobby of car enthusiasts for decades although it never really became popular because petroleum diesel has always been a lot cheaper than home-brewed diesel,” he explained.
Not until America launched the war on Iraq.
Before the US attacked Sadam Hussein’s lair, the price of crude oil was only $26 a barrel. Now, 18 months later, it’s $75 and still rising.
Del Rosario began experimenting on the chemical process of transesterification or the removal of contaminants in oil to make his Toyota Revo pass the smoke emission test. He was surprised that the vehicle, only two years old, already emitted black smoke and failed the mandatory test. He suspected that the problem probably lies on the poor quality of diesel in the market.
He surfed the Internet, then devised his own equipment and began testing it with used cooking oil in his home.
It worked.
Now, three years after experimenting with his Revo, he is already running a plant that produces 500 liters of biodiesel a day, negligible, you may say, considering the demand for cheaper fuel in the Philippines. But he is working on a concept for a much bigger plant that could process 4,000 liters a day and will be set up, “God willing,” in Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, Cebu and Davao.
Not yet cheap
SC Holdings’ biodiesel is sold at P50 a liter, expensive if you compare it with the P37 per liter cost of petroleum diesel. But it’s lot cheaper compared to the P120 per liter of biodiesel that one big company is making from fresh coconut oil.
Tabares said the high price is due to the high cost of production, but he and Del Rosario are relying on economies of scale to bring their price down.
By their calculation, they expect to lower the price to the P37 per liter level once production reaches 4,000 liters a day.
“By that time, we believe the price of petrodiesel would have breached the P50 mark and biodiesel will then become very attractive especially to jeepney and bus drivers,” Tabares pointed out.
But sourcing out 4,000 liters of used cooking oil in Metro Manila is proving to be a major task. With this reality, Del Rosario and Tabares are looking to the seeds of the non-edible shrub jatropha as a long-term source.
The two are now exploring ties with indigenous tribes in Mindanao called the Lumads who have expressed willingness to share their ancestral lands for the planting of jatropha.
“The only problem we have is capital,” Tabares said. “But we believe that if God wants us to build such a plant, He will provide the means.”
Blending biodiesel
In the meantime, Del Rosario and Tabares are encouraging motorists to use their biodiesel not as a 100-percent fuel but as a blend to enjoy its economic and environmental benefits.
A blend of 10 percent biodiesel may not result in savings at the pump. On the contrary, it will even raise one’s fuel bill a bit. For example, if one’s full tank of diesl 60 liters and at P37 per liter of petrodiesel, one pays P2,220. If one reduces this by 10 percent, or six liters less, he will pay P1,998. Six liters of biodiesel will cost him P300, hence the total full tank of a 10-percent biodiesel blended diesel (B10) for P2,298, or P70 (3 percent) higher than the original bill.
But according to Tabares, the 10 percent biodiesel blend will improve the mileage of the vehicle by at least 20 percent because the oxygenated biodiesel would make petroleum diesel easier to burn.
“The main cause of low mileage is unburned fuel,” said Tabares. “By making the fuel easier to burn, you get more kilometers from a liter of fuel and you solve the problem of pollution. You also extend the life of your engine and your engine oil, thereby saving on maintenance cost.”
SC Holdings also sells an additive that makes gasoline engines more efficient.
Doing it at home
Will Del Rosario advise ordinary Filipinos to brew biodiesel right in their own kitchen?
“Why not?” he said. “Science is fascinating. They just have to observe safety precautions and these are all available on the Internet.”
Del Rosario explained that those new to biodiesel would readily feel the difference once they pour in one or two liters of the clean fuel and mix it with petroleum diesel. “The effect is instant,” he said. “You’ll feel it in your accelerator pedal. Magaan itapak kasi the biodiesel is an excelent solvent. Pinalalabnaw niya ang petroleum diesel.”
However, since biodiesel is a solvent, Del Rosario warns biodiesel owners to expect the possibility that their engine would stall. “Years of using petroleum diesel has left sediments in your car’s fuel line. Lilinisin yun ng biodiesel and there is a big chance that your fuel filter would clog. Madali lang naman ang solusyon dun. Magpalit ka ng fuel filter.”
It’s even better, he advised, if from the beginning, one would drain the tank, clean it first with biodiesel and let the engine run on pure biodiesel while in the garage. “That way, tumirik ka man, nasa bahay ka lang,” he said.
Del Rosario, meanwhile, cautioned owners of new vehicles to check their warranty certificate first before using biodiesel. “We don’t want them to have warranty problems later on,” he said.
For those interested in homebrewing biodiesel, you can start off by checking website www.journeytoforever.com.
