Government to spend P49 B on development of alternative fuels

The government will spend about P49.1 billion for the Alternative Fuels Program next year, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said yesterday.

He noted that bulk of the program will go to biofuels development at P25.6 billion which is 20.75 percent higher than the P21.2 billion allocated for the biofuels program this year.

The Biofuels Act, principally authored by Zubiri, mandates a two percent biodiesel blend and 10 percent ethanol blend for gasoline starting January next year.

According to the Bukidnon lawmaker, the Natural Gas Vehicle Program for Public Transport will receive P8.7 billion of the total budget allocation, autogas (or auto LPG conversion) program gets P4.4 billion and the hydrogen development program, P10.4 billion.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is intensifying efforts to massively convert jeepneys and tricycles into auto-LPG run vehicles just as what has been done to taxis.

Auto-LPG is priced lower than diesel and is one of the most efficient ways to help reduce the impact of high oil prices.

The DOE is also currently studying the utilization of hydrogen as vehicle fuel.

The Alternative Fuels Program is one of the five key components of the Arroyo administration’s Energy Independence Agenda, which outlines the roadmap that will lead to the country’s attainment of 60 percent energy self-sufficiency by 2010.

At the same time, Zubiri is also pushing for the passage of the Renewable Energy Bill to address the rising cost of electricity.

“The passage of the Renewable Energy Bill gains more urgency as the President acknowledged that the lower growth rate and rising inflation were direct results of the high price of crude for fuel and electricity,” he said.

Zubiri said the country’s budget allocation of P1.415 trillion for 2009 gives priority not only to alternative fuels but also to the housing sector.

“Construction and the shelter sectors are known as good generators of other economic activities and a good supplier of steady stream of jobs. Most important, it satisfies a basic need of a Filipino family,” said Zubiri, chairman of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement. – Donnabelle Gatdula