Alternative fuels cut down RP oil import bill

The country’s dependence on foreign sourced oil has been on the decline as evidenced by the 37 percent drop in imported mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials this year, an economic planning official said.

In an interview, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director Dennis M. Arroyo said the drop in oil imports can be attributed to the increasing use of natural gas coming from the Malampaya field in Palawan.

The Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project produces natural gas for electricity generation and other alternative energy use.

"Basically, the drop in oil imports, in my opinion, is also due to the conversion of taxis towards liquefied petroleum gas (LPGs)," Arroyo said.

Taxis have started to convert their vehicles from unleaded gas to LPGs.

"Much of LPGs are coming from Malampaya, our own natural gas, therefore lessening our oil imports," Arroyo explained.

In addition to Malampaya, Arroyo noted that the passing of the biofuels bill and the planting of jathropa seeds will further decrease the country’s need for imported oil.

"We’ll see more use of ethanol and coco-methyl-esther (coco-diesel) in the coming years. When the jathropa plants are harvested that will help lower all the more our oil dependence," he said.

In a separate interview, Neda director general Romulo L. Neri said the government expects to save $2 billion from diesel importation by planting jatropha, whose seeds contain oil extract which can be used to power diesel engines.

"If we become self-sufficient in diesel, we can save 30 percent of the $6 billion to $7 billion worth of oil we import a year," Neri said.

Neri said self-sufficiency in diesel production can be achieved if the country can plant jatropha seeds in two million hectares of land. The target for this, he said, is within five to seven years.

The initial planting will be in Fort Magsaysay, a military camp in Laur, Nueva Ecija, where a total of 36,000 hectares will be planted with jathropa seeds.

For every hectare of jatropha plants harvested, three tons of oil may be used. This is almost equivalent to three tons of diesel or about 3,000 liters.

Neri estimated the cost of processing oil extracted from the jatropha seeds to be about P17 per liter.