Chapters authored
Comparative Analysis of Bioethanol Production from Different Potential Biomass Sources in the Philippines
To pursue the continuous implementation of the bioethanol blending mandate by the Philippine Biofuels Law, part of the roadmap of the National Biofuels Board (NBB) through the Department of Energy (DOE) is to find a sustainable feedstock. This is due to the deficit in locally produced bioethanol as there is an insufficient supply of currently used feedstock, sugarcane. There are several biomasses available in the country with components viable for ethanol fermentation. Aside from sugarcane, these include sweet sorghum and cassava (first-generation), rice straw and corn stover (second-generation), and macroalgae (third-generation). Among which, sweet sorghum can be considered as the best complementary feedstock to sugarcane as its syrup can be directly fermented to produce bioethanol. Considering its maximum bioethanol potential yield of 100 L/ton for two croppings annually, a comparably low production cost of PhP 36.00/L bioethanol was estimated, competitive enough with the PhP33.43/L bioethanol from sugarcane. Aside from finding a promising feedstock, the bioethanol production volume in the country must be increased to meet the demand through either working on the optimum processing conditions to increase the capacity utilization from the current 77.9% or through installation of additional distilleries.
Part of the book: Bioethanol Technologies
Comparative Analysis of Biodiesel Production from Different Potential Feedstocks in the Philippines
In response to the worsening crisis on energy security and climate change, the Philippine Biofuels Law (Republic Act 9367) was enacted which mandates the blending of biodiesel to petroleum diesel sold in the country. Primarily, feedstock and pricing concerns led to stagnant growth of the Philippine biodiesel industry. Hence, viability of different potential biodiesel feedstocks such as coconut, oil palm, and soybean (first generation), jatropha and used cooking oil (second generation), and microalgae (third generation) was assessed through extensive research and developments. Among these sources, oil palm is regarded as the best complementary feedstock to coconut due to its high biodiesel productivity of 376 million liters per year. Oil palm biodiesel production in the Philippines was also found to have a low carbon footprint of 1.80 kg CO2e per liter and a GHG reduction potential of 42%, which corresponds to a GHG savings of about 1.05 million metric tons CO2e per year for a 5% blending mandate in 2025. Additionally, a low biodiesel selling price of about Php 33.26 per liter can be achieved from using this feedstock for biodiesel production. Hence, use of a low cost and readily available feedstock coupled with established processing technologies and pricing mechanisms will help boost the biodiesel industry in the Philippines.
Part of the book: Biomass, Biorefineries and Bioeconomy