First ethanol plant to hum in 2007 yet

The country's first ethanol plant worth P1.5B in San Carlos City, Western Visayas is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2007 which aims to lessen the country's dependence on imported fuel, according to a Department of Energy 7 official.

DOE-7 regional director Antonio Labios bared that ethanol, which comes from sugarcane, is mixed with gasoline between five to ten percent per liter which can create savings as ethanol is cheaper than gasoline by P20-30 per liter.

Just like coco methyl ester (CME) where one percent is mixed with diesel while ethanol is for gasoline, both CME and ethanol are forms of alternative fuels encouraged by government to use amid the looming oil crisis as surges of oil prices in the world market continue to aggravate.

Labios said the ethanol plant's construction is a welcome development amid the current situation as CME has already been widely adopted in the country today.

In fact, about 60 percent of gasoline stations in Cebu have made CME available in their retailed shelf items.

The ethanol plant is also seen to revive and revitalize the sugar industry because when operational, the plant is expected to produce 100,000 liters of ethanol daily.

Aside from harnessing sugarcane, other positive impacts seen by the rise of the ethanol plant is the production of electricity and carbon dioxide for beverage companies.

Labios said the sugarcane's waste by-product 'bagas,' can produce about 9MW of power where five MW can be sold while the remaining four MW of electricity could be used to power the plant making it self-sustaining.

The production of carbon dioxide on the other hand, used in softdrinks and other cola drinks can be sold to beverage firms, this was said.

Hundreds of employment will also be generated with the ethanol project.

The San Carlos bio-energy plant is a joint venture between Bronce Oak Philippines and the state-owned National Development Company. - Gregg M. Rubio