news/updates
Biofuels board urged to review 5% ethanol blend mandate
By Donnabelle L. Gatdula
Philippine Star
December 11, 2007
The newly-created National Biofuels Board (NBB) is being urged to review the imposition of a five percent blend of bioethanol in gasoline as mandated under the Biofuels Act of 2006.
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri told reporters he is apprehensive that the five percent bioethanol blend will be met by industry players due to the lack of domestic production.
Zubiri noted that when they are drawing the biofuels law, they have already anticipated this matter.
"The law has a safety measure that when you do not have enough ethanol to supply, then the NBB can bring down the blending up to as low as three percent," he said.
Under the law, gasoline should be blended with five percent ethanol in 2009 and increased to 10 percent in 2011.
But up to now, Zubiri said there are no clear indications on how many ethanol processing plants will be put up.
So far, only San Carlos Bioethanol is seen to start commercial operations in 2009 but this can only produce 30 million liters a year as against the country's requirement of 300 million liters.
Zubiri said if the mandate will not be met, the NBB has the power to lower the mandated blend.
But he pointed out that the 10 percent level should be met accordingly by 2011 or there would be a need to raise the tariff on imported ethanol to encourage local oil players to utilize locally-produced ethanol.
Zubiri also noted that they do not want the oil companies to be depending mainly on imported bioethanol just to meet the law's requirements.
"What we do not want to happen is that oil players will get used to importing ethanol. We do not want imported ethanol, as it is only Brazil who will get rich. And it defeats the purpose of our industry," he said.
In line with this, Zubiri, the principal author of the biofuel law, said he is also pushing for the increase of tariff on imported ethanol.
"I propose, to protect the local biofuel industry player, a tariff on imported biofuels as soon as local production is ready. To jumpstart the ethanol blend, I even plan to propose a 20-percent tariff on imported ethanol by 2011," he said.
