By any metric, P49.1 billion pesos is a huge sum of money.
That is the sum that the government is willing to spend for the Alternative Fuels Program next year, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, principal author of the Biofuels Act of 2006, revealed last Tuesday.
The bulk of the allocation goes to biofuels development at P25.6 billion, which is some 21% higher than P21.2 billion budgeted for the purpose this year. Which begs us to ask the following: Has the allocation for this year been exhausted? If so, has the government anything to show for it?
According to Zubiri, P8.7 billion will go to the Natural Gas vehicle Program for Public Transport; the autogas program, or the conversion of fuel engines to LPG use, P4.4 billion; and the hydrogen development program, P10.4 billion.
The Alternative Fuels Program is a key component of the Arroyo administration’s Energy Independence Agenda, which aims to make the country 60 percent energy self-sufficient by 2010.
Why such a big budget for biofuels development, when this activity should rightfully belong to the private sector? Financial incentives for the developers such as income-tax holidays and tax breaks for capital goods importation do cost money, but it would be in the form of reduced taxes for the government, not an upfront cost.
The only huge expenditure that can be thought of is when the government gives a huge dole-out for its biofuel from jathropa program which is being carried out by the government’s PNOC Alternative Fuels Corporation to buy or lease huge tracts of land, machineries and seeds or seedlings. Even then, jathropa cultivation for biofuels is still highly iffy; and according to some UP Los Baños agriculturists who should know what they are talking about, it will not be cost-effective if grown in peripheral soils as envisioned.
Not much enthusiasm for large-scale cultivation has evolved throughout the world. There is some development in Brazil, but ironically, India—to which local enthusiasts are looking up to for seeds and technology—is now keenly watching how the Philippine program is progressing.
As for LPG conversion, the amount may be just right if the plan is to simply replace the thousands of polluting motor cab engines with those using LPG at no cost to the owners and operators. This is a dole out, plain and simple. A complete phase-out of these polluters from major streets and highways to improve our breathing space would only cost a fraction.
As for the P10.4 billion for hydrogen development program—is the government trying to leapfrog over the countries most active in hydrogen power development like the U.S., Germany and Japan, in commercialization of hydrogen-powered cars? Those who allocated this amount are completely clueless to the scientific and technological barriers needed to be hurdled to make the hydrogen car commercially viable.
I wouldn’t be surprised if part of the money would be simply spent to buy a fleet of hybrid cars like Toyota Prius for our congressmen and cabinet officials to test-drive and show off.
If a few millions each would be given as research grants to some science or engineering departments who have alternative energy programs in top universities such as UP. Ateneo, La Salle or Mindanao State University, or even to regional schools like Bicol University or Silliman, the results would likely to be more productive than the current allocation plan.
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