BATAC CITY -- Government agencies and universities in Ilocos Norte and Cagayan Valley have agreed to expand and strengthen the involvement of local communities in the two regions in the processing and production of bioethanol using nipa.
The agencies are the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), Department of Agriculture, Cagayan State University, local government unit of Aparri, Cagayan; and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
In a May 21 joint meeting held at the Batac university, the agencies’ representatives have agreed to lay down the groundwork to maximize the potential of nipa as feedstock for bioethanol production, including the full operationalization of MMSU’s National Bioenergy Research and Innovation Center.
The meeting is MMSU’s response to the challenge of Senators Loren Legarda and Sherwin Gatchalian to come up with a 5,000-hectare nipa plantation in the two regions in an attempt to reduce the importation of fossil-based fuels, and create opportunities for countryside socio-economic development.
MMSU President Shirley Agrupis said the government is now prioritizing nipa as the main source of feedstock because the plant has become the most efficient source if bioethanol in the country’s bioenergy industry.
Records show that sugarcane is the only feedstock that is currently being used by the 11 large-scale bioethanol industries in the Philippines.
“That’s why I am presenting to you why we want nipa as feedstock to supplement sugarcane,” Agrupis said, noting “what we are actually addressing is the smooth implementation of the Biofuel Act of 2006.”
Agrupis, who is an expert in bioenergy research and proponent of the program, said there is now a big challenge to reduce the importation of fossil fuel-based fuels, improve the quality of the environment, and create of the opportunities for the country-side socio-economic development and feedstock sustainability.
She said MMSU has started producing bioethanol in 2008 trying to address all these challenges as defined in Republic Act 9367, also known as the Biofuels Act of 2006.
Records from the Department of Energy show as of March 2017, the projected local production capacity of the 10 accredited bioethanol refineries in the country, including the three industries, is around 431.12 million liters.
However, the reported actual production is only 230 million liters, or roughly 61 percent of the total demand.
Agrupis said one of the reasons for not meeting the production capacity is the limited feedstock and the estimated total land area needed to plant sugarcane to meet the ethanol supply requirement of 376 million liters is 35,000 hectares.
“If the country will (be able to) double that number of hectarage in the next three years to meet the 20-percent blend, the government will be needing about 80,000 hectares for sugarcane thus, the issue of food against fuel will break out,” she said.
“That’s why, we focus on nipa as feedstock that perfectly fits into the biofuel industry to zero-in bioethanol importation,” Agrupis said, adding that the plant can easily supply the 39 percent shortage of ethanol.
Nipa is a mangrove species that grows in river deltas and brackish water. It has 10 to 20 percent sugar and can live to 50 years.
Research results show that 85 percent of the sugar in nipa is fermentable to ethanol. The advantage of nipa over sugarcane is that the former does not need commercial yeast to convert sugar into ethanol.
Compared to sugarcane, nipa does not need fertilizer, pesticide, and insecticide. (PNA)
