A committee comprising of some Senate and Congressional members reviewed the House and Senate versions of the Biofuels Act in order to come up with one version which will be passed on to the President for signing into Law.
A hotly contested provision in the Senate version states that no ethanol facility may be constructed in a sugar producing region without first getting approval from the Sugar Regulatory Administration, this is in order to maintain the supply and price of sugar for consumption. Rep. Migs Zubiri who authored the House version with Rep. Iggy Arroyo (brother in law of the president) where in the forefront of the opposition of this provision. The compromise however was the reiteration of the mandate of the SRA to guarantee enough supply of sugar for consumption. How they’re going to do that was not mentioned.
The next steps to be taken are a further ratification by both chambers of the Philippine Congress before it gets passed on to the President.
The Philippine Biofuels Bill calls for 5% mixing of Ethanol in gasoline and 1% biodiesel in Diesel, while also seeking to encourage the use of other alternative forms of energy.
Original Article here and here
Category: Bioethanol
