‘Biofuels suspension won’t help rice situation’
By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:22:00 04/20/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Suspending the Biofuels Act of 2006 will not help alleviate the rice problem as biofuels production will not impact the country’s ability to produce rice, according to the Asian Institute of Petroleum Studies Inc.
While everyone conforms to the rice-before-fuel idea, the Biofuels Law does not directly relate to rice production as agricultural experts have attributed the rice shortage to the unattractive economics of rice farming, said AIPSI managing director Rafael Diaz.
Instead of suspending the law at this point, it would be better to give it a chance to work as this would give the country a shot at easing its heavy dependence on imported oil, Diaz said in a statement.
Although the impact of the Biofuels Law on the country’s overall oil consumption would be minimal, Diaz said it would be a step toward energy self-sufficiency.
“This will at least have our country running in times of serious fuel supply crisis such as what happened during the Middle East Yom Kippur war in 1973,” he said.
The Philippines aims to be 60-percent energy self-sufficient by 2010.
Apart from helping reduce oil imports, the mandatory use of biofuels would also enhance agro-industrial development through the production of high-value export products, said Diaz.
It would also help alleviate poverty in the rural areas and preserve coconut plantations through the elimination of coco-lumber production which farmers resorted to out of desperation and poverty, he argued.
Debate not applicable
Diaz said the “food vs fuel” debate is not applicable here as the United States and the Philippines have different biofuel production scenarios.
In the US, ethanol is produced from corn, a crop that is heavily used for food.
The ethanol program in the Philippines uses sugarcane as the main feedstock.
“Brazil has had ethanol blends as high as 85 percent for the past two decades, and yet it has had no food vs fuel conflict. The Philippines still has plenty of arable and denuded lands planted to nothing,” Diaz said.
Feedstock
For biodiesel, the country uses coconut as its main feedstock which, unlike feedstocks like soybean, rapeseed, canola and sunflower, bears fruit continuously for 60 years without the need for annual replanting.
“Note that 80 percent of coconut oil production is exported as a surplus product for nonfood applications such as detergents, cosmetics, aviation lubricant, bio-oil specialties and others,” Diaz said.
Jatropha, which is being considered as a second biodiesel source, is also no threat to food security as it can be planted on land where no food crops can grow.
Diaz said the government could easily manage the land use issue to prevent jatropha from competing with food crops.
|
