MANILA, Philippines — As the Philippines mulls higher voluntary ethanol blends in gasoline, ethanol producers are looking to bump up investments, but imports are still needed to meet this higher requirement.
All in all, this will help lower prices and shield the country from future global supply and price shocks, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.
In its report, the USDA said the Philippine government is studying higher ethanol blends of up to 20 percent in gasoline on a voluntary basis.
“Higher voluntary blends, e.g., E15 and E20, would be facilitated through the approval of currently drafted Philippine National Standards (PNS),” the USDA said.
This is in line with the recent stated concern by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that the country is overly reliant on refined petroleum product imports, and a Senate energy committee meeting on June 21 last year wherein the Department of Energy (DOE) was advised to consider such higher blends.
The USDA said the consideration for higher ethanol blends – although on a voluntary basis – gives local ethanol producers the needed push to expand their capacities.
“Ongoing consideration and opportunity of a potentially larger ethanol market has incentivized local producers to consider scaling current investments as well as explore non-traditional feedstocks,” it said.
The Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines (EPAP) has been pushing to raise the blend from 10 percent to 15 or 20 percent to further pull down gasoline prices and generate more savings from avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and DOE are mandated to map suitable areas for feedstock production for the biofuels industry.
Based on the roadmap, the DA and Department of Energy (DOE) will pursue seedling development for high-yield coconuts and other energy crops to increase feedstock.
But until local ethanol production scales up, the USDA said a voluntary PNS for E20 would “force imported refined petroleum products to compete with imported ethanol on price for 10 percent of the total blended gasoline pool and have the effect of both immediately lowering pump prices as well as providing a safeguard against future oil price and supply shocks.”