Adbentyurs ni Bugoy

Members of the media, marketing and technical committees of the newly established Baguio Clean Cities Coalition, will attend the briefing to help them in their advocacy to promote biodiesel use in public and private transport here Rafael Diaz, managing director of the Asian Institute of Petroleum Studies, will present a paper on CME diesel technology while director Teresita Borra of the Energy Utilization Management Bureau of the Philippine Department of Energy will give an update on the alternative fuels program in the country.

Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia, oversight coordinator of the local coalition will open the forum to be graced by SEDP country director Divina Chungcuanco, while coalition working coordinator Perfecto Itliong will present an update on the local initiatives. City environment and parks management officer-in-charge Josephine Chan will share the local government’s experience on the use of CME after which a testing demonstration will be done at the local Petron Station.

The pitch for CME and other biodiesel use here was made in February last year by Prof. Rey Hizon of the Technological University of the Philippines and Robert Albes of the Philippine Coconut Authority during a forum. The growing concern for cleaner air was triggered by news reports the other year that Baguio had become the most polluted city in the country due to vehicle smoke emission.

The report was based on a World Bank study. The Environmental Management Bureau, whose exhaust monitoring was used in the WB report, however, denied the news, saying that “the ambient air quality in Baguio is within the good to fair condition”. “CME is safe, biodegradable and reduces serious air pollutants such as soot, particulates, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons and air toxics,” Hizon noted. Albes also said tests on 15 PCA vehicles with their diesel fuel blended with only one percent of CME showed a reduction of around 50 percent in their smoke emissions.

Another test conducted at the Nihon University in Japan proved that blends of one, five, 10 and 20 percent of CME on low sulfur diesel resulted in a 70 percent reduction of particulate mater from exhaust emission. While admitting that CME is presently more costly than petrol fuel, Hizon stressed that mixing it increases mileage to one to two kilometer per liter, translating into savings of 91 centavos to P2.85 for every liter of diesel. Hizon also allayed the apprehension raised by some jeepney drivers that their engines might be damaged by their shift to CME, a point bolstered by drivers who are using the coconut derivative. .

“Using biodiesel actually extends the life of your diesel engine because of its superior lubricating and cleaning properties,” he said. “Since it is oxygenated (22 percent by weight), the result is an almost perfect combustion (that) means lesser emission compared to pure diesel fuel.” Increasing use of CME, which is renewable energy, will help stabilize the domestic price of copra and encourage farmers to increase their production to uplift their economic life, Hizon added. Albes noted the country has 3.5 million coconut farmers, with 25 million directly or indirectly dependent on the industry. About 27 percent of the agricultural land, or 3.1 million hectares, is planted to coconut, estimated to be over 324 million trees.

The country’s annual coconut oil production is placed at 1.414 billion liters, about only 20 percent of its annual petrodiesel demand of seven billion liters. In the United States, biodiesel is used in blends of five to 20 percent while France provides by law a five percent blend. The US has 81 active coalitions promoting use of alternative fuels in the transpor sector, with 151,000 vehicles using biodiesel made available by over 6,000 alternative fueling stations. Tomorrow’s forum is sponsored by the Sustainable Energy Development Program, the United States Agency for International Development and Department of Energy through the Philippine Clean Cities Program. – Ramon Dacawi. -30-