The Philippines battle over biofuels: oil lobby against the people

The Philippines has seen an at times heated debate about the need for biofuels. Two clear camps have arised, on the one hand the 'oil lobby' and the auto-makers (and here and here), who are being accused of trying to block the massive introduction of ethanol and biodiesel, and on the other, a diverse group of academics, environmentalists, farmers' unions and politicians (and here) who see the benefits of green fuels in an era of high oil prices and energy insecurity. The Philippines' senate floor has seen nothing less than an almost physical fight over attempts to get biofuel legislation passed.

The situation is strange, to say the least, because in many other countries, petroleum companies are working together with the biofuel advocates. After all, it is the oil companies who will be mixing and distributing the renewable fuels. Often, in the developing world this task is undertaken by the large and powerful state-owned petroleum company. Only, the Philippines' national petroleum company (PNOC), is too small to really weigh on the debate.

It is interesting to follow the discussion in the island state, because pro and con arguments there are often so exaggerated that they show us the real issues very clearly. The latest public debate is over whether or not ethanol blends can be readily used in the existing car fleet of the country.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) earlier said that 40 percent of the vehicles in the Philippines were not fit for biofuels. But Filcar Foundation trustee Alex Loinaz, a fuel expert is saying otherwise, even noting that the alternative fuel is ideal for use in countries with warm weather such as the Philippines. He said carbureted engines would even benefit from the use of ethanol-blended gasoline as these types of engines operate at very low-pressure differentials, making them unable to compensate for the volume effects of partially vaporized fuel.

Blending ethanol with gasoline jacks up the latent heat of vaporization of the fuel and allows the ethanol to absorb heat, Loinaz said. When the ethanol vaporizes, the air density in the fuel mixture also increases, and this enhances the air/fuel mixture, he said. The Chamber maintains that carbureted vehicles were not compatible with biofuels as their open loop systems cannot adjust to changes in the oxygen content of the fuel, resulting in higher emissions.

"The statement that 40 percent of the vehicles in the country are not fit for biofuels is an obvious error or an outright lie," said Loinaz, who has done extensive research on the development and application of ethanol and other gasoline additives:
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He also refuted the CAMPI claim that ethanol could degrade vehicle "drivability" because pf its higher heat of vaporization compared with other octane enhancer, which could result in poorer cold start performance.

The CAMPI had also said the energy content of ethanol was lower than that of pure gasoline, resulting in reduced mileage.

Loinaz admitted that using a 10-percent ethanol blend in gasoline reduced its energy content by 3.2 percent but he said this did not bring down a vehicle's overall efficiency.