Ormoc City is number-one producer of environment-friendly energy sources

business mirror

MONDAY, 20 DECEMBER 2010 18:23 FELIX N. CODILLA III / CORRESPONDENT

ORMOC CITY—Not many people know it, but Ormoc leads in the production of renewable, environmental-friendly fuel. Not only is it the site of the biggest wet steam field in the world; it also has the Philippines’ first ethanol plant in response to the Biofuels Act of 2006.

Eduardo L. Amante, Energy Resources Development and Utilization Division chief of the Energy Department’s Visayas field office, said Leyte Agri Corp. (LAC) inaugurated its ethanol plant in Ipil, this city in 2008. The plant is the first of its kind in the country and produces 20,000 to 27,000 liters of 95-percent ethanol everyday or a capacity to produce 300,000 liters a month.

While production is a far cry from the total Philippine requirement, it is nevertheless good news as it signals that the country is on track in producing its own bioethanol needs. An affiliate of the Philippine Agribusiness Development Corp., the LAC invested P350 million for the facility, P50 million of which went to the distillation equipment.

The plant gets its feedstock from sugarcane from around 56,000 hectares of plantations in Ormoc and neighboring Kananga town. The LAC was off to a good start with a ready buyer in Petron and Flying V.

The LAC, a holding company owned by Julio Sy Jr., isn’t new to the ethanol business as it has been producing food-grade alcohol since 2001. Its facility produces about eight million liters of alcohol annually.

Petron, the country’s largest oil refiner, started procurement of locally-produced ethanol from the LAC which it mixes with fuel sold at the pumps. Petron blends fuel grade ethanol with its E10 premium gasoline, a specially formulated unleaded gasoline that exceeds the requirements of the Biofuels Act.

It contains 10-percent fuel grade ethanol and 90-percent premium unleaded gasoline. This unique and enhanced fuel additive removes existing deposits, resulting to improved power and fuel economy.

The Biofuels Act mandates a five-percent ethanol blend in gasoline by 2009 and 10-percent blend by 2011.

Another larger capacity ethanol plants has followed the footsteps of LAC like San Carlos Bio-energy in Negros Occidental which produces 40 million liters annually. A third plant is La Carlota which also produces 40 million liters yearly.

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In Photo: Leyte Agri Corp plant. (Felix Codilla III)