Petron is 1st oil firm to join Phil Fuel Ethanol Alliance

Oil industry leader Petron Corp. has joined the industry-wide Philippine Fuel Ethanol Alliance, the first oil company to do so. The alliance is a partnership between the private and public sectors aimed at establishing a local bio-ethanol industry and promote the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel.

Alliance members currently include the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), Philippine Sugar Millers Association (Pasumil), Sugar Master Plan Foundation, and Center for Alcohol Research and Development.

"We share the vision of the alliance and believe that the use of ethanol will increase the country’s energy security, protect the environment, and spur rural development," Petron chairman Nicasio I. Alcantara said in a statement.

Ethanol is an indigenous, renewable and bio-degradable fuel expected to reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuel.

It is a high-octane, water-free alcohol produced from the fermentation of sugar and converted starch (corn, potato etc.). It is traditionally used as a blending component at five to 10 percent concentrations in gasoline. Unlike fossil fuels, ethanol is virtually inexhaustible since agricultural products can be grown and harvested continually under a sustainable system.

Alcantara explained that the ethanol alliance is an important catalyst in pursuing the government’s energy independence agenda which is a vital step towards sustainable development.

Last May, Petron signed a memorandum of understanding with San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. (SCBI) expressing its intention to offtake SCBI’s entire ethanol production. SCBI is a joint venture between British firm Bronzeoak Philippines and the National Development Corp.

SCBI will construct, own and, operate an integrated sugar mill, cogeneration plant and distillery complex for ethanol production in San Carlos, Negros Occidental.