Coco sector leaders propose changes in biodiesel additives

COCONUT industry leaders want changes in the amount and kind of additives that are mixed in locally sold diesel fuel to increase the revenues of farmers and refiners, and also to cushion the domestic impact of rising crude prices in the international market.

Jesus Arranza, president of the Coconut Oil Refiners Association (CORA), on Wednesday said his group advocates for amendments to Republic Act (RA) 9367, the Biofuels Act of 2006, to allow for the shifting between locally-produced coco methyl ester (CME) and imported palmolein oil as additives to diesel fuel, depending on which commodity is cheaper in the world market at a given moment.

“When coconut prices are high, we should substitute it with palmolein (in diesel fuel). This will allow us (coconut sector) to sell coconut oil in the world market at a premium. This substitution of additives can also help tame local prices (of diesel) when (international) petroleum prices are high… by mixing whatever additive is cheaper,” Arranza said.

For his part, Dean Lao, Jr., chairman of the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP), said the government should take advantage of the lower price of nature-friendly biodiesel by raising CME mix to diesel to five percent to generate huge foreign exchange savings, which he claims is equivalent to P23.4 billion yearly.

Aside from enhancing the fuels’ ability to cut pollutant greenhouse gas emissions, the increase in biofuel will enable the Philippines to displace a large amount of imported diesel, he added.

“We are importing 13 billion liters of diesel (yearly). From B2 (two percent biodiesel) to B5 (five percent biodiesel), we can displace an additional 390 million liters equivalent to PHP23.4 billion,” Lao told reporters during a Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food, Inc. (PCAFI) press briefing.

RA 9367 mandates that diesel sold locally should contain two percent CME because this mixture helps mitigate harmful emissions.

There is presently no provision under the law that allows for the substitution of CME with palmolein, but the Department of Energy (DOE) has reportedly reviewed its feasibility.

UCAP is the umbrella organization of local coconut industry organizations of which CORA is also a member. (PNA)/PN