So how effective is legislation in spurring public interest to a certain cause? Pretty much I guess, if we base it on web site metrics. I run a personal blog that I use to document events in the emerging Philippine Biofuel Industry. I started it last year around September. In my blog I started posting about “Green” events around the world, but the majority of my topic was on the progress of the Philippine Biofuels Bill in the Philippine Congress and Senate.
The Philippine Biofuel Bill calls for mandatory mixing of 1% Biodiesel in Petrodiesel being sold at the pump as well as 5% Ethanol in Gasoline for the first 4 years before being increased further when the biofuel supply has finally been able to meet up with the demand.
Around December last year both Congress and Senate passed their versions of the bill and all that was left was the signature of the Philippine President so that it could officially be declared as part of Philippine Law. Come January 12, 2007 the Act was finally signed by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Looking at my site stats you will notice a sharp increase of visitors (majority of which come from the Philippines) as soon as the Law was passed. From then on it increased four-fold. Up to this day I get a lot of hits from search engines with users originating from the Philippines querying about sources of Jatropha seeds, the Philippine Biofuels Bill and all other stuff related to biofuel production.
Of course I have to discount the hits I received on April 2007 because that was the time of the Miss Earth Contest and I got a lot of search engine queries asking for the winners of the contest.
Aside from search engine queries I also started getting email from students or researchers asking where they can source feedstock material, what the contact no. of this biofuel company was?, how do I get in touch with this biofuel association?
etc.
Based from this I have to say that it really pays to have legislation passed in order to get the interest of the public up. But of course interest is one thing, like all great projects, we still have to Act on our plans in order to get things done.
Category: Misc
August 14th, 2007 at 11:29 am
do blog about the progress of the Renewable Energy Bill as well. it almost made it last congress but not quite. now it’s included in the LEDAC. it was never quite as popular as the biofuels bill but i really hope it makes it this time around