Chemrez Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of D&L Industries, said Thursday it welcomes the move of the Department of Energy (DOE) to increase the country’s biodiesel or coco methyl ester (CME) blend this year.
Chemrez president and chief executive Dean Lao Jr. said this would benefit not only consumers and the industry but also the environment.
The DOE recently published a draft circular mandating an increase in biodiesel blend from 2 percent to 3 percent effective July 1, 2024, 4 percent by July 1, 2025 and 5 percent by July 1, 2026.
“This directive from the DOE is a huge step towards progress and the development of the biodiesel and coconut industry in general. This should pave the way for a greater energy self-sufficiency while collectively reducing our carbon dioxide footprint on the planet,” Lao said.
Chemrez is the country’s largest biodiesel manufacturer and the earliest advocate of harnessing the power of coconut oil to make higher value-added and sustainable chemicals. It has been manufacturing oleochemicals since the 1980s.
Chemrez constructed the first purpose-built and continuous-process CME plant in Asia in 2006.
It said with an annual national diesel consumption of around 15 billion liters, an eventual hike to 5-percent blend would mean a 3 percent reduction in diesel volume, translating to about 450 million liters of diesel displaced by biodiesel annually.
This will result in significant reduction in the Philippines’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it said.
“It is estimated that the implementation of B5 will result in about 1.1 million metric tons reduction in carbon dioxide equivalent annually, which is a massive reduction equivalent to 13x the annual GHG emissions of D&L as a whole,” Chemrez said.
It said the price effect of the higher CME blend on consumers would depend on the prevailing price.