The Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 Biofuels Act 2006 requires oil companies to use biofuels in all "liquid fuels for motors and engines sold in the Philippines." All gasoline sold in the country must contain at least 5 percent ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

 by February 2009, and by 2011, the mandated blend can go up to 10 percent. The new law is expected to bring a number of benefits to the country:

"Commercial production of ethanol from sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

, cassava

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

 or sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...

 will help the island nation diversify its fuel portfolio and help to ensure its energy security

Energy security

Energy security is a term for an association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led...

. It could also generate employment, particularly in rural regions, as investors put up biofuel crop plantations and processing plants. Also, the shift to these plant-based fuels for transportation will help reduce pollution."

Four feedstocks—sugarcane, corn, cassava and sweet sorghum—were initially identified for ethanol production, but sugarcane is expected to be the predominant source of ethanol. The Philippines is a sugar-producing country, and sugarcane is grown mainly in the islands of Negros, Luzon, Panay and Mindanao. Despite growing demand for sugar, there are still an estimated 90,750 hectares (224,000 acres) of sugarcane available that can be used for ethanol production, and high-yielding varieties of sugarcane are available.

Introduction

In July 2008, 10 percent Ethanol Blend gasoline was made available in the market. Pilipinas Shell

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

 and Petron Corporation

Petron Corporation

Petron Corporation is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, supplying more than a third of the country’s oil requirements....

 introduced 95 Octane E10 Gasoline alongside their Unleaded (93 Octane) and Premium Unleaded (95 Octane) variants.

See also

• Common ethanol fuel mixtures
  Common ethanol fuel mixtures
  There are several common ethanol fuel mixtures in use around the world. The use of pure hydrous or anhydrous ethanol in internal combustion engines is only possible if the engine is designed or modified for that purpose...
  
  
• Ethanol fuel by country
  Ethanol fuel by country
  The world's top ethanol fuel producers in 2010 were the United States with and Brazil , accounting together for 88% of world production of . Strong incentives, coupled with other industry development initiatives, are giving rise to fledgling ethanol industries in countries such as Germany, Spain,...
  
  
• Ethanol fuel in Australia
• Ethanol fuel in Brazil
  Ethanol fuel in Brazil
  Brazil is the world's second largest producer of ethanol fuel and the world's largest exporter. Together, Brazil and the United States lead the industrial production of ethanol fuel, accounting together for 87.8% of the world's production in 2010. In 2010 Brazil produced 26.2 billion litres Brazil...
  
  
• Ethanol fuel in Sweden
• Ethanol fuel in the United States
  Ethanol fuel in the United States
  The United States became the world's largest producer of ethanol fuel in 2005. The U.S. produced 13.2 billion U.S. liquid gallons of ethanol fuel in 2010, and together with Brazil, accounted for 88% of that year's global production...
  
  
• Flexible-fuel vehicle
  Flexible-fuel vehicle
  A flexible-fuel vehicle or dual-fuel vehicle is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or methanol fuel, and both fuels are stored in the same common tank...
  
  
• List of renewable energy topics by country