Monday, October 06, 2008 Oledan: Mismatch By Radzini Oledan Slice of Life
HOPES are high that the Biofuels Act or RA 9367 would be able to respond to the oil crisis. The law intends to maximize the production of sugarcane and coconut to supply the needs of bioethanol and coco diesel.
Sugarcane has been identified as one of the primary sources to produce the requirements of bioethanol production, which under the law is required to comprise at least 5% of the total annual volume of gasoline actually sold and distributed in the country within two years from the effectivity of the Biofuels Act.
Coconut, on the other hand, will serve as the feedstock for biodiesel that the law mandates to account for at least 1% of all diesel engine fuels within three months.
Sugarcane production is expected to increase to meet the requirements of the Biofuels Act. But the sugar industry can only supply 79% of the needs of the 5% bioethanol blend, which is between 200 and 400 million liters per year, according to government statistics. Thus the country needs to expand the current 167,300 sugarcane farms in the country covering a total area of 344,700 hectares to meet the bioethanol demand.
There appears to be a looming threat on the conversion of agricultural lands for biofuels production that stands to affect farmers and CARP beneficiaries.
Notwithstanding this concern, the biofuels business is expected to be lucrative. In fact, an increased ethanol production in the country is expected to create an additional 300,000 new jobs. Ethanol production is also considered a strategic investment by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) as an alternative response to the oil crisis.
While the program targets unproductive and idle lands only, there is no guarantee that even CARP-able lands and lands of CARP beneficiaries would not be included considering the promise of high returns from such agribusiness venture.
Estimates show that to produce a minimum of 120,000 liters of ethanol daily, a sugarcane plantation needs 7,000 to 8,000 hectares aside from another 10 to 20 hectares for each ethanol processing plant.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) already identified 237,748 hectares of new sugar fields, mostly in Mindanao, that can be tapped to produce ethanol for fuel. They include Maguindanao (69,550 has.), Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur (45,000 has.), Palawan (20,808 has.), Saranggani (19,700 has.), Lanao del Norte (19,035 has.), Cagayan (16,918 has.), South Cotabato (15,000 has.), Isabela (12,337 has.), Masbate (8,000 has.), Bohol (6,400 has.), and Kalinga (5,000 has.).
In the long run, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) must take into account the supposed economic benefit of ethanol business venture as against the actual physical distribution of lands to farmer-beneficiaries.
While there is no doubt on the need to explore, develop, and utilize alternative sources of fuel to achieve energy security, long term responses must focus on reversing the oil deregulation policy which gives oil companies unfettered control on the prices of oil and instituting price control to fight monopoly.
Biofuels production may be an alternative, but its exploration should be balanced by an appropriate response to the agricultural sector. Otherwise, there could be more bottlenecks ahead. (Email comments to roledan@gmail.com.)
