Ethanol producers urge cut in red tape to hasten investments

MANILA, Philippines - The Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines (EPAP) is seeking a reduction in government bureaucracy to attract more investments in the ethanol industry.

EPAP director Tetchi Cruz-Capellan told a press conference that the long period involved in processing of documents and permits has been hampering progress in the industry. 

“The stakeholders, especially government, have to continue promoting biofuels and work harder to improve the investment climate by providing greater incentives, encouraging more off-take agreements, and by reducing red tape to fasttrack the construction of more ethanol plants and accelerate commercial operations to beat the deadline set by the Biofuels Act,” Capellan said.

The closer collaboration with government and various stakeholders is crucial to attain local production level of ethanol to 220 million liters by 2011, she said. 

The ethanol industry in the country is a sunrise enterprise with vast potentials for job creation and countryside development. 

Currently, only 50 million liters of ethanol are produced locally. More facilities are scheduled to be built with stronger support from different agencies of government. 

She noted the seemingly slow pace of development in the ethanol industry saying “the Philippines is entering this arena in the late stage of the game. Brazil for example has larger farms, bigger plants, and  more efficient operations.” 

“Our producers are optimistic that in time, the Philippines will match their efficiency and catch up with the pace of our ASEAN neighbors. But given the huge investments required to build plants, the producers need a more favorable climate to start up and scale up their operations,” she added.

EPAP is a non-profit industry association promoting the use of clean fuel in support of the country’s bid for energy security, green job creation, rural development and climate change mitigation. 

Some of EPAP’s members are San Carlos Bioenergy Inc., South Bukidnon Bionergy Inc., Green Future Innovations Inc., One Cagayan Resource Development Inc., Basic Energy Corp., Far East Alcohol Corp., Alto Power Management Corp., and Enerfuse Holdings Inc.