Sunday, August 08, 2004 Ferrer: A cheaper and cleaner alternative ethanol, a natural gas By Ed Ferrer
Some 3 months back while we're engulfed with the May 10 synchronized elections, then the prolonged canvassing of votes by the joint Congress - on May 29, crude oil prices surged to its highest in 21 years, tsk tsk! How and why? Because the terrorists attacked the oilfields in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
The Arabs have done the unthinkable, and they're effectively putting the whole world on edge! They've found Saudi Arabia's vulnerability: oil, that precious juice from the Sahara desert, uh?
The strikers were as methodical as their diabolical and gory throat-slitting bandied on world-wide TV footage. The Al Qaeda though that they can bring down enemy of the Islam - that is, the West.. by shutting downs Saudis' oil installations. For the record S.A. holds one fourth of the worlds' oil deposits.
On the local front, gas prices has risen six times sine January by P4.35 per liter; diesel, by P3.15. Fuel spikes have wiped out bus, jeepneys, tricycles fare increase which have started since June 12. and, the end-result is the oil pinch, there's now a domino-effect in our midst, every item in the market have gone sky-high - because of the oil crunch!
Akin to the above, here's a promising, encouraging development! Why don't we try some local alternatives? There's cheaper and cleaner alternative - a natural gas, the ethanol. It will make buses, jeepneys, tricycles and various machineries run smoothly and efficiently, still cuts cost.
Ethanol could be manufactured and produced with the government's assistance, as we have plethora of the sugarcane grown in the nook and cranny of the archipelago.
From my research, it says, that there have been a lot of studies on ethanol manufacture that dates back decades ago. The technology of ethanol production and use as fuel for trucks, buses, cars, agri-machineries, is widespread. Brazil leads in this.
In the US, ethanol production will reach 3.3 billion gallon from this year. With these, it can afford fuel for at least 3 million vehicles.
Brazil, as previously stated, was the first country that adopted a nationwide alcohol program. It has been operating some 500 distilleries in 1975 and produces about 10 billion liters per annum, fueling about nine million cars, trucks and tractors.
Some big automobile manufacturers in Brazil are churning out cars and other vehicles specifically designed to use ordinary alcohol or ethanol.
Thailand, too, has been into ethanol manufacture, now all government vehicles of that country are using ethanol as fuel.
Latest reports indicate that there are now a total of 12 million to 13 million vehicles running on ethanol in Europe, North America and Brazil.
Australia has set aside several millions of Australian dollars as incentives for vehicles that will shift to ethanol, as the Australian sugar industry is ready to tackle ethanol production instead of just generating sugar from sugarcane.
Statistics show that more than 70 percent of our crude oil is imported from a source 5,000 miles away from now facing troubles. This requires a chain of complex handling storage facilities on every island, and so forth.
The current continuing unrest in the Middle East and the possibility that supply may be interrupted. And worse, the funds used to buy our oil are borrowed. This contributes to the negative trade balance of the country.
Hence, we don't have to dig in the ground to bring out fuel! We can grow it! It could be an inexhaustible source of energy... from our sugarcane, uh?
What more? The country will liberate itself from complete stranglehold and dependence on imported oil-and ease some of our foreign exchange outflow.
Paging the Malacañang top advisers!.... Please put to task the DOST, SRA and other concerned agencies to see the viability of this potential alternative and in effect, we stop raiding our dwindling and precious dollar reserves!
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