Rafael Coscolluela of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said that there are about 20 applications for bioethanol projects submitted at the National Biofuels Board (NBB). Each application will have about a capital requirement of P4 Billion for each aspiring biofuel producer.
Most of the applications belong to joint ventures between foreign and local companies. Aside from the expertise, since the Philippine Biofuel industry can be considered a fledgling industry, the local company partner can benefit from the capital of the foreign partner. The SRA rep however refused to identify the companies because their application could still be classified as waiting for approval.
The Department of Energy (DOE) also announced that they had received about 15 proposals to put up various biofuel processing facilities. DOE director, Mario Marasigan, said that these projects could raise some P20 billion for the biofuel industry. Not sure now if the report from the SRA is different from or the same with what the DFA has mentioned.
One of the detriments to Biofuel investing in the country has been the fact that oil prices have retreated due to the world financial crisis brought about by the collapse of subprime loans in the United States.
Coscolluela however is optimistic that by the time the investors have finished building their ethanol processing facilities, the prices of fuel may have already stabilized and reached more profitable levels.
The SRA is a board member of the NBB because they govern the sugar industry of the Philippines. Sugar is a usual feedstock component in Bioethanol production. The NBB is under the Department of Energy(DOE) and enforces the provisions of the Philippine Biofuel Law. The NBB is headed by a representative from the Department of Energy (DOE) and have members from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), Dept. Agriculture (DA), Dept of Agrarian Reform (DAR), and Dept of Science and Technology (DOST)
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Category: Bioethanol, Automotive
