Senate bill on 1% minimum biofuel blend for diesel products pushed

The Philippine Biodiesel Association (TPBA), an advocacy group, has called for the immediate passage of a Senate bill that will mandate a one-percent Philippine National Standard (PNS)-compliant coco-biodiesel blend in all diesel fuel for sale in the country.

Senate Bill 2159 currently mandates a five-percent bioethanol blend with gasoline within two years.

Recent United States findings indicate that noxious diesel emissions are 7.5 times more cancerous than other air pollutants.

TPBA noted that this is compounded by the fact that diesel is the Philippines’ fuel for commerce and industry, being in use more frequently.

In a position paper addressed to the Senate Committee on Energy, the group sought the immediate mandate of a one-percent coco-biodiesel blend in diesel as a timely response to the pressing need for pollution-mitigation.

"Why wait for two more years, throwing away for each year of delay some P16 billion worth of wasted diesel into our air as harmful pollution, when PNS-compliant coconut methyl ester (CME), or coco-biodiesel, is already available for our motorists’ use?" Cris Michelena, convenor of the TPBA, said.

Michelena noted that the one percent blend can improve the quality of local diesel and clean up diesel engines.

Michelena said lowering the emission level of all diesel engines, all at once, through a one percent blend of PNS-compliant CME in diesel can immediately address the worsening pollution situation.

The Philippines currently imports seven billion liters of diesel every year. A small one percent blend would require only 70 million liters of PNS-compliant CME per year. Current local production capacity is pegged at 114 million liters.

Experts from the Asian Institute of Petroleum Studies, Inc. (AIPSI) said that the recent rise and stability in coconut oil prices has been spurred by the emerging demand for biodiesel all over the world.

The Worldwide Fuel Charter (WWFC) of 2002, to which all car manufacturers of the world subscribe, currently approves the use of biodiesel blends in diesel up to five percent.