Oil companies are set today to increase the biofuel components of the fuel they sell at the pump in order to comply with the Philippine Biofuels Act of 2006.

This implementation of an increase in biofuel mix is covered by Circular DC2009–02-0002 of the Department of Energy. The said circular approves a 5% mixture in bioethanol with gasoline and 2% biodiesel with petrol diesel at the pumps. The decision to increase was decided upon by the National Biofuels Board(NBB) on January 19, 2009.

As stated in the Biofuel Law of the Philippines, two years after the implementation of the bill (June 8, 2007), biodiesel and bioethanol mixture being sold at the pumps should contain a mixture of 2% and 5% respectively.

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The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) revoked a Jan. 17, 2006 agreement between them and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) which allows the SBMA to issue environmental compliance certificate (ECC) to companies prior to starting ventures in the free port zone.

The privilege was revoked after recent complaints by locals against the SBMA owing to some environmental violations perpetrated by some companies operating in the free port. Add to that, SBMA failed to secure from the DENR the ECC’s for the economic zone itself. They also failed to issue regular monitoring reports to the DENR on the compliance of companies who have been issued ECC’s.
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Former Senator and now chief of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Ralph Recto, is calling on congressmen to draft Anti trust laws to prevent public utilities (specifically oil companies) from colluding, cartel like, in rigging their pricing so as to be profitable to them. Anti trust laws will promote “true” competition in the market place.

All this was brought about by the government feeling that the Oil companies were taking too long in lowering their prices.
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Daniel Dingel, a man who supposedly invented a “water-powered car,” but has been outed as a hoax by the Department of Science and Technology has been convicted of estafa (swindling) and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the Parañaque City Regional Trial Court.

82 year old Mr. Dingel was found guilty of misappropriating the funds ($380,000) he received from Formosa Plastics Group of Taiwan. His defense of not reading the joint venture agreement between him and Formasa before signing it was sited as being “too flimsy to be given an ounce of consideration.” by the court. The fund was supposed to have gone to purchasing 3 cars and for his research in hydrogen reactor’s.
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The Philippine Renewable Energy Law, which was signed last Tuesday, was hailed as a big boost to the country’s program for energy self-sufficiency by the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (PIPPA).

The PIPPA are a private group of power generators who supply energy to the national grid. Most of them operate diesel fuel based power plants. Some sectors credit the PIPPA for the reason why energy prices are high in the Philippines, mostly because of clauses in their contracts that guarantee for their electricity to be bought even when there was no demand.
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Tuesday is the day that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will sign into law the much anticipated Renewable Energy (RE) Bill. Dubbed as the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 it gives incentives to investors and energy producers to build renewable energy power plants instead of fossil fuel based ones. And with Philippine power demand targeted to overrun the country’s power supply by 2010, it would be ideal to meet that demand with renewable energy.
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