With Bronzeoak’s San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. (SCBI) bioethanol plant, in San Carlos City in Negros Occidental, being the only ethanol distillery being constructed in the Philippines right now. Philippine Sugar Millers Association’s (PSMA) scientific director, Archimedes Amarra, said that the government might have to delay the mandatory 5% bioethanol blend for gasoline by 2009 as stated in the recently implemented Philippine Biofuels Bill.
San Carlos Bioenergy’s plant in San Carlos, Negros Occidental is only expected to produce 125,000 liters a day or 30 million liters a year, not enough to meet nationwide demand. Even with the announcement of another plant by UK based Bronzeoak to be set up in either Tarlac or Bukidnon that will produce another 40 million liters it still won’t be enough. In order to meet the demand, former Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) head James Ledesma said that at least 7 distilleries is required to produce the nationwide requirement of 268 million liters for a 5% blend.
PSMA said that the culprit could be the lack of tax holiday incentives, that is deterring investors from diving right in. As well as the fact that it will take a very huge investment in infrastructure to get a distillery running (est. P2 B for the plant alone without the feedstock.)
I’ve no problem with delaying, considering that I’ve found the short timetable too optimistic. A P2 Billion investment for a distillery ain’t exactly chump change, so as an investor it would be good to dot all the “i’s” and cross all the “t’s” when scouting locations and plant sites, not to mention having to build partnerships that you can source that capital from. Going public might be a good idea but you’ll need help from the Philippine SEC to fast track and approve that application.
In short, the path to foreign oil independence is a long wait, but a wait I would be willing to wait for nonetheless.
Article here
Category: Bioethanol
