Crude coco oil supply can support biodiesel program

There would be enough crude coconut oil to support the the Energy Department's new policy to increase the mandated minimum blend for biodiesel to 5 percent starting this year and 10 percent by 2015, The CIIF-Oil Mills Group (CIIF-OMG) said Thursday. “A 5-percent blend would only require 350,000 metric tons of crude coconut oil, or just 23 percent of the current annual production capacity in the country," CIIF Group president and CEO Jesus L. Arranza told reporters in an interview. A coconut-tree replanting program, initiated by the CIIF-OMG and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), is now underway to raise the production of crude coconut oil over the mid-term to support the 10-percent biodiesel blend by 2015. “We are giving financial support to farmers' cooperatives in establishing their seed garden and when they are ready, we provide them with free seed-nuts that they can plant either in new areas or in places destroyed by typhoon, as well as replace senile trees," Arranza said. Coconut trees take five years to bear fruit. By then the fruit-bearing trees are ready to support the higher demand for crude coconut oil, and just in time for the 10 percent blending in 2015. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allotted up to P1 billion to the Coconut Farm Development Program, with about 225 farmer-cooperatives benefiting from the program, which involves the planting and replanting of some 6.97 million coconut trees in 212 sites across the country. The PCA and the CIIF-OMG are implementing a coconut pest management program in 32 provinces to ensure that existing trees will continue to bear fruit for the biodiesel requirements of the country. Funds supporting the farmers will get a big boost once the CIIF-OMG receives its dividends from San Miguel Corp., Arranza added. Arranza recommended the higher biodiesel blend to 5 percent from 2 percent, taking into consideration its benefits to the economy, environment, and the millions of coconut farmers. The higher the minimum blend the better the demand for copra and crude coconut oil can be sustained, lessen the country’s dependence on foreign buyers, according to Arranza. This means additional savings in foreign exchange for imported oil, and increased use of refining capacity of biodiesel producers, which will benefit the coconut industry, Arranza said. The Energy Department’s revised energy plan calls for higher minimum blends of biodiesel, starting at 5 percent this year, 10 percent by 2015, 15 percent by 2020 and 20 percent by 2025. —VS, GMANews.TV