Lang
The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has indicated that the government is expected to raise the country's biodiesel blend next year, provided that coco methyl ester (CME) prices stabilize at levels that would not place an additional financial burden on motorists.
PCA Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Dexter Buted said the Department of Agriculture-attached agency has formally recommended increasing the biodiesel mandate from three percent to five percent — a move from the current B3 framework to B5 — to the Department of Energy (DOE).
The DOE is responsible for overseeing adjustments to the biodiesel blend based on recommendations issued by the interagency National Biofuels Board (NBB), which the department itself chairs.
'We are pushing the DOE and the government as well, but it will all depend on the price of CME,' Buted said in an interview last week.
According to the latest DOE price monitoring in Metro Manila, CME-based biodiesel is currently averaging around PHP 135 per liter, while conventional diesel prices are fetching between PHP 77 and PHP 97.50 per liter. The substantial price gap between CME biodiesel and petroleum diesel remains a central concern for policymakers weighing the feasibility of the proposed blend increase.
Source: Manila Bulletin