Implemented by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), the project aims to test the viability of the use of coconut-derived diesel in place of the traditional petroleum-based fuel. It is being done under the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Program of the Arroyo administration.
PCA Administrator Danilo Coronacion said the project primarily wants to help coconut farmers increase their income and to promote the use of cleaner fuel.
Explaining the rationale of the program, he said: "It is time vegetable-based fuel from coconut was used as an economically competitive, environment-friendly, and renewable fuel alternative for the country."
Coronacion asserted that farmers are likely to benefit from improved and stabilized copra prices while the environment stands to get a respite from noxious gases associated with petroleum.
"When fully utilized, the country and the national economy will benefit from jobs created, revenues generated, and precious foreign exchange saved," he said.
The project envisions to supply the diesel fuel requirements of the national offices of the Department of Agriculture (DA), its line bureaus and attached agencies.
It seeks to substitute as much as 10 percent of the diesel fuel requirements of the National Power Corp. (NAPOCOR) diesel-fired power plants, based on President Arroyo’s instruction for NAPOCOR to explore the feasibility of the scheme.
On a national scale, the project aims to substitute as much percentage as possible of the diesel fuel consumption of the country.
Recently, Presidential adviser for agriculture modernization Angelito Sarmiento announced that an initial 10,000 liters of coconut methyl ester (CME) will be made available for the project’s test run.
CME, Sarmiento said, will be used as five percent fuel additive to standard diesel fuel being used by motor vehicles. He added that the use of five percent CME additive will greatly reduce the carbon emission of diesel-powered vehicles without harmful effects on the engine.
He noted that this will enable owners of diesel-fueled vehicles to comply with the requirements of the Clean Air Act which is now being implemented in Metro Manila.
According to Sarmiento, the use of CME as fuel can generate an equivalent demand of 500,000 metric tons of coconut oil annually, creating a new market of higher value for coconut products.
The feasibility of cocodiesel has long been proven. In fact, some PCA vehicles have been running on cocodiesel for some time now. The feat has been the result of years of research by the government in its effort to replace petroleum diesel with CME to save on dollars.
"The PCA’s ongoing test on automobile run by cocodiesel for years demonstrates very high satisfactory results," Coronacion said.
As early as 1991, several government science and technology agencies had agreed to gather their resources, expertise, and facilities to implement a project on the application testing in the use of CME as diesel fuel.
The agencies were PCA, Department of Science and Technology (DOST), (DOST-Industrial and Technology Development Institute (ITDI), NAPOCOR, and Philippine National Oil Commission (PNOC).
In many of the scientific studies, Coronacion noted, "the CME has been proven as viable to match with petroleum diesel in terms of engine performance and lifespan."