DOE announces all gas products to be blended with 10% ethanol starting Feb. 9
By Fayette C. Rinen
CEBU CITY, January 21 (PIA) -- Starting February 9, all gasoline products will be blended with ethanol in compliance with RA 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006.
Mario Marasigan, the director of the Renewable Energy Management Bureau of the Department of Energy (DOE) bared the announcement during the recent International Conference on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Cebu.
Under the law, a five percent ethanol would be blended with gasoline within two years after the law has been passed to be increased to 10 percent four years after its effectivity as recommended by the National Biofuels Board.
“In fact, the increase to 10 percent ethanol-blend to all gasoline products should have been done last year,” Marasigan said.
Bioethanol is a type of biofuel produced from agricultural crops, sugar cane or biomass. Biofuels are environment-friendly and considered clean energy as they are carbon-dioxide neutral which means they do not add to the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The use of biofuels is highly recommended amid the alarming global issue on climate change due to greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is one of the more potent greenhouse gases that are destroying the earth’s ozone layer resulting to global warming and climate change, this is learned.
Using ethanol-blend in gas products as required by law is a significant step to develop and utilize indigenous and sustainable source of clean energy to greatly reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuel.
Currently, the DOE is conducting an aggressive campaign for alternative fuels and renewable energy sources to achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2030, Marasigan stressed. (PIA-Cebu)
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PHL can meet aim of tripling RE utilization by 2030, DOE says
By Fayette C. Rinen
CEBU CITY, January 20 (PIA) – A top energy official expressed optimism that the Philippines can be able to achieve its objective of tripling the current utilization of renewable energy (RE) sources in the country within the next 20 years.
Director Mario Marasigan of the Renewable Energy Management Bureau of the Department of Energy (DOE) said that under the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) which was launched in June of last year “we will increase RE-based capacity by 200 percent within the next 20 years or from 2011 until 2030,”
Marasigan was recently in Cebu to grace the two-day International Conference on RE and Energy Efficiency undertaken by the German Embassy, Gothe Institut, Association of United Filipinos Trained in Germany among others in partnership with the DOE.
Marasigan said the current utilization of 5,500 MW of power generation from RE sources is largely attributed to geothermal and hydropower.
“We need to tap other RE sources in order to meet our increasing energy needs and lessen our dependence on imported fossil fuel,” Marasigan stated.
Other potential RE sources that can be tapped that were cited are natural gas, wind, solar, ocean and biomass.
For the Visayas, Marasigan said that they are eyeing this year a hydro facility in Antique, the further exploitation of the geothermal plant in northern Negros and the upgrading of the Palimpinon Plant in Leyte.
There are also ten sites for possible development of RE-based potential seen in the Visayas including Cebu but of which most are based in Negros Island and Panay, this is said.
In Cebu, Marasigan said the possible RE sources to be exploited are wind power, a mini hydro power project in both south and north area, biogas from agri-waste in Bantayan Island and a possible study on marine technology in Danao City as well as sourcing power generation from the ocean. (PIA-Cebu)
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DOST-7 to launch its own catalogue on SMEs Tech Upgrading Program
By Fayette C. Rinen
CEBU CITY, January 19 (PIA) – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 7 will launch this afternoon its own publication titled “The DOST VII Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program Product Catalogue” at their conference room, S & T Complex in Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City.
Limited copies of the book will be distributed for free.
The catalogue features success stories and products from the beneficiaries of the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) in the region.
SETUP is a program under DOST which assists small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through Technology Upgrading, Products Standards and Testing, Packaging and Labeling, Database Management Information System and Linkaging and Networking for raw material sourcing, marketing, technical and entrepreneurial, financing and equipment design and fabrication.
The program covers the priority sectors namely the food processing; furniture and home furnishings; gifts, holiday decors and fashion accessories; marine and aquatic resources; horticulture; and metals and engineering.
Tomorrow will also witness the formal turn-over of the Good Manufacturing Practices System and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (GMP-SSOP) to Raw Brown Sugar Milling Co., Inc. (PIA-Cebu with PR from DOST 7)