Sugar industry boom expected in 10 years

Sugarcane planters in Cebu expect the local sugar industry to boom in the next 10 years due to the increasing demand for ethanol.

Jose Mari Miranda, president of Bogo-Medellin Sugarcane Planters Association, said they are supporting the government's program promoting ethanol as alternative fuel to help lessen the impact of high prices of petroleum products.

"That's the beauty because we have an alternative now. If the price of sugar is low, we plant for ethanol, if there is low demand for ethanol, we would produce table sugar," Miranda said.

"With ethanol, we see that the sugarcane industry will survive in the next 10 years," he added.

According to Miranda, fuel that is blended with ethanol is 40 to 50 percent cheaper compared to regular fuel. Aside from being cheaper, he said that it is also environment-friendly and prolongs the life of the vehicle's engine.

Due to soaring prices of oil products in the world market, the Arroyo government has been promoting the use of alternative and natural gas like ethanol, coco-methyl ester, liquefied petroleum products, bio-diesel, compressed natural gas, among others, to save on energy and lessen the country's dependency on imported fuel.

Aside from alternative fuel, ethanol could also be used as raw material for alcohol.

Brazil and some other countries are using ethanol as fuel additive at 24 percent blend. Thailand is also set to adopt the same practice at five percent blend while Japan imports ethanol in excess of 400 million liters for industrial requirements.

In the Philippines, Miranda said, sugarcane planters are supporting the thrust of the government to promote the use of ethanol as fuel additive.

But he explained that if an ethanol plant is to be built in the country, it should not be placed in existing sugarcane areas where table sugar is produced.

The government has come up with the National Bio-Ethanol Program that is aimed at ending its dependency on imported petroleum products. The program also enables the government to make substantial dollar savings, achieve health and environment protection, and promote countryside development through product diversification.

Energy officials said that ethanol is a high-performance motor fuel that cuts poisonous exhaust emissions. - Wenna A. Berondo